The Swiftly Tilting Balance
by Steamboat Ghost
Summary: A post war adventure dealing with old and new conflicts alike. Current: After saving the town of Chin, the gaang get to relax at festival celebrating their victory. Unfortunately, the festival doesn't quite go as planned, ending devastatingly for everyon
1. The Road to Peace part 1

**Author's Note: **Since book 3 hasn't actually come out yet, I've assumed several things about it, which will hopefully be revealed in the writing. As a heads up, two major things I'm assuming: Zuko joined the Gaang early on on in season 3 and has built up a trusting friendship with each of them and that Aang has delayed telling Katara how he feels about her.

Also, while this story does take place immediately after my version of season 3, this is not how I expect season 3 to turn out. It's written that way simply to give this story some continued conflicts from the show and make it more interesting.

* * *

It had been a surprisingly peaceful week after the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai. News of Zuko's immediate coronation after the previous fire lord's assassination had raced around the world and already the Fire Nation army was withdrawing from the Earth Kingdom and it's other provinces. With him leading his nation on the path to peace and Iroh advising him every step of the way, the rest of the gang had been left to themselves in the fire palace with little to do except enjoy themselves as royal guests.

They had taken a liking to the courtyard garden, it was nice to be outdoors and the weather was beautiful. The pond situated amid the lawn was a particular place of interest, especially for Katara.

At the moment, she sat by the side of the water bending it slowly and playfully as a turtle duckling watched with interest. Toph lay nearby on her back staring with unseeing eyes into the sky. Appa slept beside them under the tree that shaded the two girls.

Momo sat by the pond near Katara, pawing at the swimming turtle ducks. A quick peck from one of them sent the little lemur scurrying away. Discovering the picnic basket with everyone's lunch leftovers, Momo eagerly tore into the food, stuffing his face.

"Momo! I just finished packing that!" Katara cried, reaching out from where she sat to shoo the little lemur.

Momo chirped, looked at her for a moment and then went back to eating. Sighing, Katara turned and resumed what she was doing as well.

Sokka was seated across the lawn on the stone steps leading into the palace. Aang, noticing his friend's glum expression, decided to abandon his efforts to get the turtle ducks to play follow the leader with him and see what was up with the water tribesman.

"Hey Sokka," he chirped, landing lightly on his feet in front of the teen, "You've been sitting there all morning and you barely touched your food. What's going on?"

"Oh, I'm just board I guess," Sokka sighed as he continued to sit elbows on knees, arms propping up his head.

"Yeah, I'm kinda bored too," Aang replied, taking a seat next to Sokka, "I thought a break after saving the world would be nice and all, but we haven't done anything for over a week. Zuko's and Iroh have really taken charge around here."

Sokka sighed again, saying "I've been thinking, with the Fire Nation on the road to peace, there just won't be any excitement anymore; all the battles are over."

Aang could see Sokka was distraught, and even though he knew with Azula still on the loose the battles were far from over, he attempted change the subject, "Come on, Sokka. What about Suki? Aren't you looking forward to seeing her again without having to worry about the Fire Nation?"

"Of course I am," Sokka blurted out, throwing his hands up in frustration, "But that's another problem, I haven't seen or heard from her in months! The last time I saw her she was barely even alive!"

"Don't worry, tonight Zuko and the leaders of the other nations will be formally establishing the new peace between the nations. After that we'll be free to go to Kyoshi Island, I promise."

"Auugh and that's another problem!" Sokka yelped, "All the leaders are here except my dad! He's staying home to help in the rebuilding of the Southern Water Tribe. Chief Arnook ois representing both tribes in the treaty process.".

Aang could only look at Sokka with pity. Turning away from his miserable friend, he was glad to see Katara and Toph approaching.

"What's wrong with Sokka?" Katara asked quizzically.

"Pretty much everything," Aang said causing Toph to snicker and Sokka to jump up with a look of indignation.

"I suppose you guys are having a grand time doing absolutely nothing!" he exploded, eyes bulging crazily and pointing accusingly at Katara and Toph.

"Actually," Katara began, trying to calm her brother down, "We're just as board as you are, so I thought I we could all go check out the city. I'm sure Zuko won't mind if we leave the palace."

"That sounds great," Aang exclaimed jumping up excitedly and then, trying to cheer Sokka up, "Sokka, you could look in some of the shops for a gift for Suki-"

Sokka's mood changed completely as he interrupted Aang, "Not now Aang, I just had a great idea, I could look for a gift for Suki!"

Aang and Katara traded looks of amusement as Sokka ran for the gate out of the palace.

"Sokka's just full of great ideas isn't he," Toph remarked as they followed after him laughing.

"We'll be back later," Aang said as he waved goodbye to Appa and Momo. Appa groaned and rolled over in response, Momo let out a small belch and settled down to take a nap in the picnic basket he had been eating from.

* * *

In the former war chamber of the Fire Palace, Fire Lord Zuko had been speaking with his recently deceased father's generals about the new peace between other nations. Iroh, seated next to Zuko, nodded in approval as his nephew spoke while sipping a cup of steaming tea. 

Ozai's defeat and Zuko's immediate ascension to the throne had gone unquestioned; both the people of the Fire Nation, the nobles, and the generals had accepted Zuko as the heir to their nation. Despite this, the transition was not without tension and both Iroh and Zuko hoped to avoid any outright conflict.

"As leaders of the three nation the Earth King, Water Chieftain and I have put together these conditions concerning the Fire Nation's complete withdrawal from the Earth Kingdom and the establishment of peace between our nations," Zuko finished after listing the terms he and the other leaders had decided upon, "many of you served under my father, but you have pledged your allegiance to me, so I come before you to hear what you would say about this development."

It was a bit shocking to the generals that Zuko would ask for their input, even more so that he would kneel among them as an equal. No fire lord in memory had left his thrown to sit among his generals. Many took this as proof to his incompetence as fire lord. As expected, many of the generals were unconvinced and utterly hateful towards the new Fire Lord, having only given their allegiance begrudgingly.

"What I want to know," snorted one general, "Is why you think we should end this war at all. The Fire Nation is on the verge of victory, even with the loss of the late Fire Lord Ozai; we are still strong. We even have the leaders of the other nations here! It would be the perfect opportunity too-"

"General Tze" Zuko interrupted as calmly as he could, "We are not here to continue the war. When you swore to serve under me you also swore that the war would be put to an end."

"You are a fool to think the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom will accept peace," Tze smirked, " The Fire Nation has been invading and killing their people for one hundred years. They will not forgive us so easily."

"I trust their word that they will, and if not then we will have to struggle for peace. But it is time for this war to end," Zuko stated looking Tze straight in the eyes.

"Why do we have to listen to this boy!" shouted Tze angrily as he stood up, gesturing towards Zuko, "We, the great generals of the Fire Nation, have to follow the orders of naïve, scar faced teenager? He should have never been crowned, one of us should have become fire lord!"

Iroh, who had been silent until this point, set down his tea cup and coolly remarked, "You realize, General Tze, that your are on the borderline of speaking treason against the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation, a crime punishable by death."

Tze redirected his glare from Zuko to Iroh, "Fine," he muttered, "See where this will take you, but I won't be a part of it."

Looking at the faces of the other generals with contempt, Tze stormed from the council. Several other generals not quite as confident but still bearing looks of disdain got up to follow Tze.

Weakened, Zuko looked around at his remaining officers, "I suppose none of you support me in this matter either?"

One of the more ancient looking of the group, a man Zuko vaguely recognized, stood up to speak.

"I was here three years ago when, in this very war chamber, when you spoke out against Tze when he wanted to use a division of new recruits against the experienced Earth Kingdom soldiers at Ba Sing Se. You showed concern for those soldiers when no one else did. I believe in your concern for our people; I trust in your ability as Fire Lord to bring peace back to the Fire Nation."

"Thank you," Zuko said, betraying a slight smile, "Does anyone else have anything to offer?" he asked, looking around the room hopefully.

His smile quickly vanished when he saw that most of the other generals still bore harsh looks, obviously unconvinced by one man's testimony. They would follow him, but that didn't mean they had confidence in him.

"You have our support, Fire Lord Zuko," the general who had shared his story spoke up, and while several of the other generals nodded in agreement, they were obviously conflicted in their decision.

"Thank you, you're dismissed."

As the generals filed out of the chamber, Zuko and Iroh remained kneeling. As the last man left the chamber, Zuko tore the golden crown from his topknot and tossed it onto the table.

"I just can't do this," he said closing his eyes in frustration, "How can I rule when my own generals don't even respect me?"

"You will earn their respect in time," Iroh replied, pouring Zuko a cup of tea, then pouring himself another cup, "You cannot expect them to serve you willingly so soon after the defeat of your father."

"I'm just not ready for this," Zuko sighed, accepting the teacup Iroh handed him. "I'm not even sure I want to be Fire Lord anymore," he said after taking a slow sip.

"Zuko, you are needed to guide your nation into peace. You know first hand how badly it is needed."

"I know, uncle," Zuko replied, continuing a bit more optimistically for his Iroh's sake, "I guess we'll just have to make the best of this won't we."

Iroh smiled at his nephew. The teen had undergone a tremendous change in the past few months, a change Iroh largely accredited to Zuko's friends: Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. Indeed, Iroh thought to himself, with the support of his friends Zuko would become an excellent fire lord.

* * *

"Wow, it sure is crowded," said Katara, as they entered the city from the residential area that separated the palace from the shops, "We better stick together so no one gets lost." 

This was easier said than done. It wasn't long before Toph realized to her horror that she wasn't walking beside her friends anymore. All around her were the vibrations of people's feet, but none of them were the familiar stomps of Sokka, casual gait of Katara, or the light steps of Aang.

"Uh, guys?" she asked worriedly. She didn't want to move and get lost in the crowd, and although she could easily earthbend her way out of the situation, she didn't want to hurt anyone either. When she received no answer except for the commotion from strangers all around her, she shouted, "Guys!?"

Toph hated crowds, the vibrations from everyone moving about flooded her senses. She couldn't recognize anyone around her. When a hand suddenly grabbed her arm, she immediately without thinking bent the earth up into the direction she hoped her assailant was coming from and was rewarded with a loud 'oof'.

"Toph," Sokka gasped holding his stomach, "It's me!"

"Oh, sorry Sokka, I couldn't see you there," Toph said apologetically.

"Very funny," Sokka returned, taking her arm and leading her through the crowd, "Lets get back to Aang and Katara."

* * *

Aang and Katara had been investigating a small antique shop. As Katara browsed through the shelves of knickknacks, Aang took particular interest in the display of bending scrolls he found in the corner. The shopkeeper, a kindly looking old man, watched them intently from behind his counter. 

"Look at this, airbending scrolls!" Aang cried excitedly, unrolling one of the scrolls to reveal a tattooed monk going the motions of an aribending attack.

"Wow, those must be priceless!" Katara said as she peered over his shoulder at the scroll.

"My father gave them to me after the campaign at the Western Air Temple almost one hundred years ago," the old shopkeeper spoke to Aang as he walked over and took a second scroll down, "I understand you're the last airbender, it's a shame being the last of your people. If you like, you can have these scrolls for free."

"Thank you," Aang said smiling at the shopkeeper's kindness, "But we've got plenty of money, it would be no trouble paying you."

"Thank you Avatar Aang," the shopkeeper said, bowing as he accepted the Fire Nation coins, "I'll never forget how the Avatar came into my shop and offered to pay full price!"

Aang couldn't help but smile. Everything he had struggled for over the past year had clear affects on people everywhere, even the humble shopkeeper that stood before him. It felt good to have set everything right, and even better was that he could finally do all the things he wanted to do that he couldn't while struggling to end the war.

Thinking about this, he left the shop with Katara at his side and Sokka and Toph approached them from the crowded street.

"Katara, I'm glad I found you, I need your help to find something for Suki," Sokka said, grabbing Katara's arm and trying to pull her along after him.

"Woe, slow down, since when do you need my help?" she asked with a smirk.

"You're a girl, and you know," Sokka explained, "You have girly tastes! If you like something I'm sure Suki will too."

"But why do I have to come?" Toph complained as crossing her arms.

"Someone has to model so Katara can tell whether she likes it or not," Sokka replied assuming a logical tone, "And I'm certainly not going to try on any dresses."

"You did at Kyoshi Island when-"

"Shhh! Don't tell Toph about that!" Sokka yelped covering his sister's mouth.

Removing it, he grabbed both Katara and Toph's hands and pulled them in the direction of a shop that looked promising.

"I guess we'll see you later," Katara gasped, waving goodbye with her free hand.

"Yeah, if Meathead can make up his mind on a gift," Toph added with an irritated groan.

Aang could only laugh at Sokka's antics and wave a cheery, yet reluctant goodbye.

It was nice being able to just walk with Katara without having anything to worry about. He had struggled to subdue his feelings for her for so long, adhering to Guru Pathik's message that he must let go of his earthly attachment for Katara, but had never truly given it up. The struggle infiltrating the Fire Nation had been long and hard, as was the final battle with Ozai, but Aang was glad he hadn't given up his attachment to Katara. Now that everything was over, he felt that things were going to start changing for the better.

All this passed through his mind as he wandered aimlessly by several shops and alleys, trying to avoid the crowd. None of the other shops really caught his interest, though he did stop briefly at a firebending school.

Watching the students train, his thoughts about Katara drifted into his memories of the past few months when he too was learning firebending. He was a bit slow and unsteady at first, but due to his incredible teacher, none other than the Dragon of the West, and a few helpful pointers from Zuko, he had mastered fire like every other element.

* * *

In the sunlit jungles of the Fire Nation, Aang and Iroh stood in a clearing practicing their bending exercises. Assuming serious expressions, they faced each other, bowed, and began their routine. 

Holding his arms out, Iroh took a deep breath and brought them down to his sides creating wing like apparitions of fire. Aang mimicked his instructor's moves, careful to stay focused and keep his breathing steady.

Throwing their arms forward, the two benders combined their fire wings for a moment and launched a stream of fire into the sky. The instance the blaze left their finger tips, Aang brought his palms together, extinguishing the twisting flames.

Aang looked at Iroh expectantly yet maintaining a serious face. Iroh looked down at him sternly, then he broke into a wide smile.

"Excellent form, pupil Aang," he said, placing a hand on the boys shoulder.

"Thank you Sifu Iroh," Aang beamed, grinning back at his teacher as he brought his hands together and bowed.

* * *

Aang smiled fondly at the memory and then, growing bored watching the basic techniques the students were performing, he continued his wandering. 

Passing the corner of the building, Aang noticed a group of men standing a distance down the alleyway. Stopping to get a better look, he was immediately spotted by one of them.

"It's the Avatar!" one of the men pointed, prompting his companions to let loose a series of fire blasts.


	2. The Road to Peace part 2

Aang's shocked expression grew as the flames approached him. Acting swiftly he twirled his staff in a defensive pattern to deflect the flames.

"Hey guys the war's over, remember?" Aang tried explaining only to be answered with another wave of fire.

Ducking quickly around the corner and watching as the fire passed through the alleyway, Aang realized his mistake too late.

"My cabbages!" screamed the street vendor as his cabbage cart burst into flames.

"Sorry," Aang cried as he rushed to the salesman's aid.

Focusing on the fire and with a swift motion of his hands, the flames that had spread over the cart of cabbages extinguished completely. Turning, Aang could see his attackers fleeing down the alleyway and dashed off in pursuit.

"I should have known better than to try selling in the Fire Nation!" the cabbage man sobbed cradling a still smoldering cabbage in his arms as Aang disappeared.

Aang rounded a corner in the alley and could see the fire benders up ahead. Looking over their shoulders, the men seemed to put on an extra burst of speed.

"This'll slow him down," one of them said, knocking over several stacks of crates.

A moment later Aang jumped the obstacle in a single gliding bound, hot on his attackers' heels.

The chase continued down the side streets as the distance between the pursued and the pursuer grew less and less. One man tried slowing Aang down by throwing a smoke bomb over his shoulder, but it quickly became clear that this was also useless. With a quick blast of air Aang blew the smoke away revealing the men rounding yet another corner.

Scurrying out of the alley they separated and dissolved into the crowd, pushing and shoving their way through. Aang, stopping a moment to try to pick them out amidst the crowd, spotted three of them moving together further down the street on the other side of the crowd. Taking a running jump, he flipped his glider open and attempted to fly over to them.

Unfortunately at that very moment several shopkeepers began raising a small pavilion in the center of the street. Aang flew directly into it and, completely tangled up in the cloth and ropes, fell back down into the swarm of people. Sending an air blast emanating from his body he managed to break free, sending the canvas and ropes flying and astounding those around him. Catching site of his targets, Aang resumed the chase.

"Excuse me, sorry, coming through!" he shouted, squirming through the crowd.

The three men pushed over several vegetable carts in front of a side street, igniting them as they passed by with quick fire blasts. Bending the water out of a nearby ceramic jar, Aang quickly doused the flames as he launched himself over the obstacle. Seeing the men running ahead to what looked like a dead end, he took a side alley hoping to cut them off.

"Gotcha!" he cried, skidding out of the alleyway only to crash into a stack of barrels.

Lying in the splintered wood, Aang dizzily looked up as the fire benders escaped onto the rooftops from a ladder mounted on the wall. It took only a moment for him to snap out of his stupor and, hopping to his feet, he leaped to the top rungs of the ladder in a single bound aided by his airbending, and nimbly pulled himself onto the rooftop.

The firebenders were close now with seemingly nowhere to go. Taking a fighting stance and holding his hands out in front of him, Aang used earth bending to pull up a few red roof tiles and sent them flying at the men. He hit two of them in the backs of their legs, causing them to collapse face first onto the roof. The third man whirled around to face Aang and protect his fallen comrades.

"Who are you, and why did you attack me?" Aang demanded angrily, pointing at them with his staff and hoping to end the pursuit.

Ignoring him, the standing man gritted his teeth in determination and punched several bursts of fire at the Avatar while the two men lying face down quickly pulled themselves to their feet, launching a flurry of flames at the boy in the same motion.

Aang was ready for the first blast, but the second barrage almost knocked him from the roof. He was only able to recover by bending the air behind him as he tilted backwards over the roof's edge. The men took this opportunity to escape and rolled off opposite the end of the roof.

"Everyone wants to do it the hard way," Aang complained as he regained his balance and resumed the chase.

Taking a running jump from the roof edge, he hoped to surprise them with an aerial attack. Unexpectedly, he was met with a blast of flames followed by the swing of a pole from the men strategically hiding on a ledge below the rooftop. Aang plummeted to the ground below landing with a splash in an animal's watering trough.

"Lets bag him now while he's down," one man said harshly.

"No," another man replied worriedly, "We weren't even supposed to be here. Look, we're already attracting a crowd, lets get out of here."

* * *

"Ughh," Aang moaned, slowly opening his eyes.

He lay half in and half out of a watering trough. Next to him a horse like animal was drinking its fill. Noticing Aang rubbing his head, the beast turned and stared Aang in the eyes.

Face to face with the beast, Aang quickly realized what kind of animal it was as the Panther Mule bore its fangs and let out a threatening growl. Wide eyed, Aang struggled to get away but only managed to tumble out of the trough, flipping it on top of himself in the process.

"Aang, is that you?" Katara's voice sounded from someplace.

Tilting the trough up slightly, Aang peered out to see the Panther Mule's owner leading it away while Katara and Sokka approached him. Toph, struggling under a mountain of packages, followed them from behind.

"Hey guys," Aang said standing up, completely soaked and rubbing a noticeable bump on his head.

"Aang what happened?" Katara asked with concern while bending the water from Aang's clothes.

Sokka looked at Aang questioningly and Toph wore a similar expression as she set down the packages in her arms.

"I was chasing some firebenders--"

"Firebenders?" Sokka interrupted, "I thought we were done fighting the Fire Nation," he finished sarcastically, remembering the conversation they had early that day.

Ignoring Sokka, Aang resumed, "As soon as they saw me they attacked and ran. I tried to catch them, but with the crowd in my way I just couldn't get close enough. The last thing I remember is jumping from the roof."

"Looks like you got knocked over the head," Sokka mused, poking at the sizable bump on Aang's head making him wince, "Haven't you heard the expression 'look before you leap'?"

"Whoever they were, they obviously don't want to be caught," Toph stated, pushing Sokka away from Aang, "Did you recognize any of them?"

"I don't know who they were," Aang said honestly, then adding, "Its weird, but while I was unconscious I had the strangest dream that someone was looking for me."

"That is weird," Katara agreed with a look of concern, "What do you think it means?"

"It was probably nothing, I have weird dreams all the time," Sokka offered pragmatically.

Katara shot him an annoyed look and Toph laughed, "Yeah, you must Snoozles, you're asleep all the time."

"I'm serious," Sokka defended himself, then continued seriously, "Dreams are one thing, but these fire benders are definitely something to worry about."

"I suppose there's nothing we can do about it," Katara said, glad that her brother was finished goofing off, "They're gone now and Aang doesn't know who they were."

"Yeah," Aang replied uneasily, "What're we going to do?"

"As much as I'd like to go find these guys, we should probably get back to the palace. I'm sure Zuko and Iroh will want to know what happened," Sokka offered.

"Good thinking," Toph complimented as Aang and Katara nodded, "But before we do anything lets work out a better plan for getting your packages back."

* * *

Luckily the streets leading to the palace courtyard were much less crowded than the rest of the Fire Capital. As they made their way to the palace, Katara walked with Aang ahead of Sokka and Toph, who were arguing about the load Sokka had insisted only Toph was strong enough to carry. In the end, they agreed to each carry half, and though Sokka fought bitterly he relented and agreed that Toph could keep one of the many gifts meant for Suki.

Katara, trying to ignore Sokka and Toph's friendly bickering, could see Aang was upset over his recent defeat against the renegade fire benders. She hated seeing her best friend so down and her caring nature immediately took action.

"Don't worry about those firebenders, I'm sure they'll be caught. Don't forget Zuko is fire lord now, he'll find out what's going on."

"But what if it's more than just a few firebenders; what if Azula is back?" Aang questioned fearfully.

He had barely defeated Fire Lord Ozai just weeks before and he knew that Azula was just as powerful if not more so. Zuko and Iroh assured them that she would be found, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

"No one has seen Azula since the battle," Katara said and then added, "Zuko has started sending troops all over the Fire Nation to find her, but its like she just disappeared."

"Even if it's not Azula, I'm the Avatar," Aang insisted, "It's my responsibility to maintain balance and order in the world, not to mention peace among men. I can't just ask Zuko to fix my problems."

The new seriousness that Aang had recently taken with his Avatar duties was almost surprising to Katara. He had definitely become more than the carefree youth she had first met at the South Pole, though his boyish nature still clung to him.

"We're your friends, and your problems are our problems too. Zuko will want to get to the bottom of this just as much as you," Katara explained, hoping to convince her friend that he didn't have to hold the world on his shoulders alone.

"You're probably right," Aang replied still downcast.

"Hey, when have I ever been wrong?" she joked, smiling reassuringly and throwing an arm around him.

Aang's gloomy face broke into a grin. It was great to have a best friend like Katara.

"Come one, I'll race you back!" she said, knowing that Aang wouldn't refuse a challenge.

"You're on," he said, "Last one back has to wash Sokka's socks!"

"Hey, I heard that!" Sokka hollered from behind as Aang and Katara raced ahead.

"Wait for me!" Toph yelped speeding past Sokka in a cloud of dust.

* * *

As Aang and Katara raced into the palace courtyard, followed closely by Toph and Sokka, they were all greeted by Zuko and Iroh.

The two firebenders had just finished a game of Pai Sho, something they barely had the time for but forced themselves to have time for it, and as they moved away from the board Zuko could be heard muttering something, the only audible bits being 'lotus tile', 'cheating', and 'fat hog monkey'. Iroh bore a huge grin clearly labeling him the victor.

"Where have you all been? You missed my glorious victory over Zuko," Iroh spoke cheerily, slapping his nephew across the back sportingly. Zuko winced and glared at his uncle.

"Isn't it obvious," Toph said holding up the load in her arms, "Sokka's been dragging us around buying things for his girlfriend!" As she finished, she emphasized her disapproval of Sokka's actions as she abruptly dropped everything in her arms.

"Careful with those!" Sokka yelped, dropping everything in his own arms and scrambling to make sure nothing in the bunch Toph had dropped was broken.

"What's that?" Zuko asked, observing as Sokka picked up a small peculiar machine.

"This," Sokka began, using his most rational and logical tone, "Is a machine operated makeup applier."

Zuko's eyebrow shut up in amusement as he turned to Katara for a sensible explanation.

"Don't ask me, Sokka picked that one out," she said rolling her eyes.

"Seems pretty cool to me!" Aang said as he pressed the button on the small contraption, causing the device's inner springs and levers to click into action and instantly plaster his face with white makeup.

Everyone started laughing, even Zuko couldn't help but chuckle. Aang cut a comical pose as he pretended to be Suki.

"Sokka, how thoughtful, I look just like Avatar Kyoshi herself! Now let me give you a big kiss!" he said in the best girl voice he could muster and making a kissy face at Sokka.

"Eeww, no!" Sokka cried as he ran from the pursuing Aang. They circled Appa several times before the bison woke up.

"Appa, Aang's gone crazy, help me!" Sokka shouted as he halted in front of the bison's huge furry face.

Appa yawned and then gave Sokka a huge slobbery lick.

"Not me!" Sokka groaned wiping the slobber from himself and pointing at Aang, "Him!"

Appa turned and licked Aang too, wiping the makeup clean off his face. Aang fell to the ground laughing uncontrollably. Now that the danger was over, Sokka started laughing too.

"Thanks Appa, I don't know what I'd do without you," Sokka said patting the bison on the head.

"Yeah, thanks buddy, I don't know what came over me!" Aang said pulling himself up and giving the huge bison the best hug he could.

"Don't forget to tell Zuko what happened in town," Katara said seriously as everyone's fits of laughter came to an end.

"What happened?" Zuko asked with a concerned look, seeing the sudden change in Aang and Katara's former happy expressions, "What's wrong?

"While we were in town, I was attacked by a group of men—firebenders," Aang explained.

"What!" Zuko shouted as his temper flared, "Who was it! Some of my men? I'll have them sentenced to--"

"I got the sense that they were rebels, not your soldiers," Aang interrupted quickly, cowering from the heat of Zuko's outburst.

Iroh attempted to restrain his enraged nephew, but Zuko shook off his hand and breathed deeply, "Sorry, I just got carried away."

Zuko had always been subject to over reacting in bursts of anger on occasion and he had developed a very protective attitude towards his friends, though he'd never admit it. An attack on Aang was an attack on himself as far as he was concerned. They had come along way from being hunter and hunted less than a year ago.

Continuing, Zuko asked more calmly, "Did you recognize any of them?"

Aang shook his head disappointedly.

"Well there isn't much we can do now," Iroh pointed out, then turning to his nephew, "But, if you don't mind my recommendation, Fire Lord Zuko, we should probably increase the number of palace guards and city patrols."

"I was thinking the same thing," Zuko stated, then facing Aang and his friends, "We'll put a stop to these rebel benders one way or another."

"Glad you'll be able to handle things without us this time," Toph teased, shoving Zuko playfully. Zuko, who wasn't ready for this, fell to the ground and lay sprawled in an undignified manner.

"Well as long as you're sticking around I don't see why we can't put you on patrol. Many of our soldiers are out searching for Azula and other dissident soldiers and we could use everybody," Zuko countered with a smirk while picking himself up.

"I'd love to," Toph said sarcastically, "But we got business at the South Pole. We'll be leaving in the morning."

"You're leaving so soon?" Zuko asked completely shocked.

"Well, after the signing of the treaty tonight, we figured we wouldn't be needed around here anymore," Katara explained, "Sokka and I have been wanting to get back to the Southern Water Tribe. Dad and Gran Gran must miss us so much."

"I see," Zuko said a bit downcast but trying to sound unmoved.

Over the short period he had actually been friends with them, Zuko found that he was actually happy. They had become like the family he never had, because in reality he didn't have a family. His father who never cared for him: deceased. His mother who loved him more than anything: deceased. His sister who loved torturing him: missing. Uncle Iroh would be the only one left, Zuko thought, and it would be nice to have family members that didn't want to drink tea and play Pai Sho all the time.

"Don't worry," Katara offered, seeing through Zuko's charade of being indifferent, "We'll come back to visit."

"Of course," Toph agreed, "Life without my two favorite firebenders would be just awful."

"We'll be back," Aang spoke up cheerily, "Don't think you can lose us that easily."

Zuko smiled weakly at his friends remarks.

"Well, if everyone's parting ways in the morning," Iroh said merrily, "Then lets make this a night to remember!"

* * *

"Bumbling idiots," General Tze barked as he kicked out at the kneeling men before him, "You're lucky he didn't catch you. What were you doing in the streets anyway?"

"Well, uhm," one the men sputtered, "We thought we should, uh, that is, we thought it would be a good idea to spy on the Avatar."

Tze shot out a wave of flames forcing the kneeling men to fall backwards and stumble away from him.

"Fools! If you had been caught the plan would be ruined," Tze stormed and then began pacing.

"I have worked every bit of this out carefully," he began, then stopping at a table with all a manner of weapons on it. Picking up blowpipe like weapon, he continued, "Do you know what this is?"

The men on the ground didn't know whether it was a rhetorical question or not and simply shook their heads no.

"This is a Fukiya, not a very effective weapon, but with this," Tze said leeringly, picking up a small dart, "It will do the trick. This is a Chi blocking poison. It took years to create, ingredients had to be gathered from all four corners of the world, but we finally succeeded."

The five kneeling fire benders looked at Tze fearfully, comprehension of his plan dawning on them as he continued, "With the Avatar in my possession, Fire Lord Zuko will be helpless to my demands."

Smiling wickedly, he finished, "And it all begins tonight."


	3. The Road to Peace part 3

The great chamber of the Fire Palace was filled so densely with people one could hardly move around. The crowd of Fire Nation nobles, Earth Kingdom representatives, and Water Tribe emissaries stood facing their leaders, expectantly watching the historic moment. The three leaders: Fire Lord Zuko of the Fire Nation, Chief Arnook of the Water Tribe, and King Kuei of the Earth Kingdom, accompanied by Avatar Aang the last of the Air Nomads, sat facing the assembly with solemn expressions. The terms of agreement had been read, all changes and modifications had been made, and the moment everyone had been waiting for had arrived.

Zuko began the procession, holding up the treaty scroll for show and then signing his name. He then stood up, turned to his left and bowed, handing the scroll to Chief Arnook. Arnook repeated the process, writing his name, standing up, and bowing as he handed the scroll to the Earth King. Accepting the scroll, the Earth King pushed up his spectacles and signed his name. Standing and giving a bow, he handed the scroll to Aang. Aang concentrated on the scroll, sticking his tongue out slightly as he scrawled his name, completing the treaty process. He stood up and held the scroll for all to see.

There was a mighty cheer from the crowd that echoed through the chamber. Aang's serious expression broke into a grin. It was an amazing sight, seeing people from all the nations ready to finally work together.

His smile dwindled somewhat as he suddenly realized it had happened too late. The Air Nomads were gone; they weren't a part of this. The crowd was a blend of red, blue, and green, but the distinct yellow of the Air Nomads was obviously missing.

A tear trickled down his cheek, despite his smile. 'No,' he thought to himself as he focused on his cheering friends in the crowd, 'I've dealt with this before; there's nothing I could have done and nothing I can do now.'

Wiping the tear away with his sleeve, he turned to regard the leaders of the remaining nations. They each wore a smile giving a sense of encouragement to Aang. With his happiness revitalized, he returned to face the crowd, knowing that this was the first step in leading the nations to becoming more unified than ever before.

* * *

The formal signing of the treaty between nations quickly developed into a celebration party. In the assembly hall of the Fire Palace, tables were set, lanterns were hung, music was played, and all around there was a general feeling of joyfulness and relief. People from all nations stood chatting casually with each other. One might even think the war had never happened; indeed, some of the noble had barely been aware of it while it existed. While many talked, others sat at the huge tables laid out with an assortment of dishes as diverse as the seated consumers.

After the events of the night, Aang wondered if he would ever get a moment to himself again. Not only was he a hero for defeating Fire Lord Ozai, but he was also considered a central piece in the treaty process, not to mention a symbol for everyone's hope for unity. All around people tried to catch his attention.

"Avatar Aang, it's an honor to meet you. You surely are greatest of the Avatars!" one nobleman said, shaking Aang's hand enthusiastically.

"Thanks, I try my best," Aang replied modestly with a grin, breaking free from the man's grasp to continue moving through the crowd.

"Avatar Aang, you're such a handsome young man, you simply must meet my daughter!" a noblewoman said as she stopped him from passing by.

"That would be great," Aang replied politely, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling awkwardly.

Iroh had been seated at one of the many tables enjoying some of the many delicacies from the Earth Kingdom. Finally reaching his destination, Aang plopped down next to his old firebending instructor.

"I thought I'd never get away," Aang gasped, "I've never attracted so much attention before!"

"What can you expect, you did marvelously tonight," Iroh beamed, "No one in this generation can remember a time when the nations were so close."

Aang grinned back and picked up one of the pastry like sweets Iroh had been eating, saying, "I just wish the Air Nomads were around to enjoy it too."

"I'm sorry," Iroh said with concern, "It must be very painful not seeing them here."

"It's okay," Aang explained seriously, lowering the pastry he was about to take a bite out of from his mouth, "I've learned to accept the fate of my people. There's nothing I can do now except prevent the same thing from happening to one of the remaining nations."

"Well said," Iroh replied, admiring Aang's understanding and maturity towards the issue, "Who knows, with your help perhaps the society of Air Nomads can be rebuilt someday."

Aang smiled at this. It was a kind thing to say, but he had no idea how to go about rebuilding his people's culture and society. Before pondering the issue any further however, he took his first bite of the pastry he had been holding.

"Hey! These are good!" he exclaimed as he licked his lips, his eyes growing wide in a sugary shock.

"Yes they certainly are," Iroh replied with wide grin, "These little treats made my exile in the Earth Kingdom truly worthwhile," he finished, biting into one of the gooey pastries.

* * *

Fire Lord Zuko had been leaning against one of the sidewalls since the party began. A few of the party guests engaged him in brief conversations, but none of them really appealed to Zuko, so they didn't last long.

The party had come as somewhat of a surprise to him. Iroh had secretly planned it hoping to surprise his young friends, but Zuko really should have expected it from his exuberant uncle.

This wasn't the way he wanted to spend his last night with his friends, but he wasn't about to drag them away. He simply removed himself from the festivities and observed from the side.

He could see Aang talking with his uncle, and from the look of Aang's crazy hand gestures Zuko could only guess that they were discussing firebending. He would miss the Avatar's vivacious attitude, though it contrasted greatly with his own personality. The Avatar's goofiness aside, Zuko had come to realize that Aang could be unbelievably serious about his responsibilities. It reminded Zuko of his own feelings revolving around his honor and duty.

Looking through the guests, he could pick out Sokka and Katara talking with the Earth King. He would definitely miss the water tribe siblings when they left. He had been slow to gain their trust, especially Katara, but he was glad that he could now call them friends.

He had been both impressed and surprised by Sokka's leadership and ingenuity skills, neither of which he would have expected from the sarcastic, non-bending, all around goofy teen.

Katara provided a feeling of sensibleness and orderliness that Zuko was extremely grateful for; he often felt surrounded by clowns when Aang, Sokka, Toph and even his uncle were up to their playful antics. He had never forgotten the compassion she had shown him in the caves of old Ba Sing Se, and although he had betrayed her initial forgiveness, he found the new trust and friendship they shared invaluable.

He began scanning the room for Toph, but the small girl remained elusive. He knew Toph as the practical joker of the group and was often the butt end of her jokes if Sokka wasn't available. He had always admired her unbreakable, confident attitude, which reflected his own at times when he didn't give in to his conflictions. Though she was the smallest, he clearly felt she was the toughest of the group. Craning his neck, Zuko searched the crowd for her again, more slowly this time but with no luck.

"Looking for someone Princey?" came Toph's voice.

Looking down to his left suddenly, Zuko observed Toph leaning casually against the same wall as himself. She had snuck up on him without making a sound.

"You know, I am the fire lord now, that nickname doesn't really fit anymore," Zuko said levelly, looking down at the young earth bender.

"Whatever you say Zuzu."

"Never mind," Zuko replied quickly with an unsettled expression, "Princey is fine."

"I thought so too," Toph nodded amusedly, "So what're you doing here all alone?"

"Big parties aren't really my idea of fun," Zuko explained, resuming his former occupation of scanning over the party guests.

"Me neither," Toph replied honestly, "It's much too fancy for my liking."

"I guess since this is the last night you guys will be staying here I was hoping we could all spend time together, like a private party," Zuko confided.

"You really need to learn to be more independent. Look at you, the Fire Lord is upset because his friends are leaving for a few days," Toph retorted, recognizing Zuko's conflicted thoughts about his friends, and then added sarcastically, "What a baby."

Zuko knew Toph wasn't trying to be mean, he had grown to know her way of approaching her friend's problems. Despite her aggressive manor, he knew she was right. He shouldn't let his temporary separation from his friends bother him.

"I guess your right," he admitted, hoping Toph would leave it at that.

"Alright your highness, start acting like the royalty you are and mingle with your guests," Toph said authoritatively, prying Zuko from the wall and pushing him towards the center of the room.

"Don't forget to smile!" she grinned, taking his place against the wall to observe the party scene as he had been doing. It was the simple things in life that gave Toph joy, and entertainment was never far away when the former fire prince was nearby.

Since Toph's word was law, Zuko didn't put up a fight. He began his trek through the room, passing among the guests. Everyone seemed content with their current conversations and nobody paid him much attention despite that fact that he was the fire lord.

Zuko suddenly became aware of the music that had been filling the room, and looking in the corner, he recognized the musicians. It was his old crew! It had been awhile since he heard them play, but he definitely felt they had improved since the last music night aboard his old ship.

Jee, Zuko's former lieutenant, looked up from playing his lute to wave at Zuko. Waving back, Zuko made a mental note to talk to Jee after the party. As he was walking and still watching the band Zuko bumped into someone.

"Hey watch where you're--," he started angrily but then stopped when he realized who he walked into. Mai stood in front of him with her usual tiresome expression.

"Sorry," she said flatly.

"No, its my fault," Zuko said, feeling stupid for speaking out angrily, then asked, "How're you doing? I mean, after Azula--"

"Don't worry about it," Mai interrupted, looking away to hide her darkened expression, "It's hard to accept that one of your best friends was never really your friend at all, that I was only an expendable piece of her schemes. I can't believe I fell for it."

Zuko recalled how his sister had made several desperate attempts to stop him and the Avatar from reaching the Fire Nation, one of which she had sacrificed the safety of both Mai and Ty Lee and left them for dead.

"Your not the only one," Zuko replied in an attempt to be comforting, but only sounding sour with his own bitterness towards his sister, "Azula is manipulative and persuasive. She's haunted me since she was born."

"Thanks," Mai replied in a tone Zuko recognized as genuine thankfulness.

"So did you parents make you come tonight?" he asked after a moment of awkward silence, changing the subject.

"Yeah, they said it would be a great educational and historic experience for me," she said, rolling her eyes in dull amusement, then added with a slight smile hovering on her lips, "You did great by the way."

"I, uh, thanks," Zuko replied smiling awkwardly, taken aback by the sudden compliment. Mai's small smile seemed to brighten slightly in return.

* * *

Sokka and Katara had been sharing their recent adventures with the Earth King, who listened intently to the story.

"…And that's how Aang defeated the Fire Lord and Zuko was crowned," Sokka finished, gesturing with his hand.

"Spectacular, wouldn't you say so Bosco?" the Earth King replied, patting the brown bear on the head and receiving a friendly growl before finishing, "You've all been extremely busy since you left Ba Sing Se."

"I'll say," Katara agreed, "It'll be good to get home again. What about yourself, are you looking forward to returning to Ba Sing Se?"

"No, actually," Kuei responded excitedly, "Being the first Earth King to leave the palace has given me the opportunity to see the rest of the Earth Kingdom as well as the cultures of the other nations. After tonight Bosco and I will be joining Chief Arnook on a brief trip to tour the North Pole."

"It's really a sight to see," Katara said enthusiastically, "Sokka and I couldn't believe our eyes when we were there, right Sokka?"

"Yeah, of course," Sokka replied absentmindedly. He had lost interest after finishing his story and had been slowly drifting towards the table nearby. "If you'll excuse me, I think there's a tray of meat calling my name."

Katara frowned and shook her head as Sokka plowed his way through the party guests to the dining table. The Earth King simply shook with mirth and Bosco cocked his head curiously.

* * *

Taking notice of Sokka eating on his own, Ty Lee\ slid up smoothly next to him as he stuffed his face with the assorted meats.

"Hey there cutie," she began flirtatiously.

Sokka only rolled his eyes and took advantage of his temporally empty mouth to reply, "Still involved with Suki," without even looking up from his food.

"Hmmf," Ty Lee huffed as she turned to find someone else of interest. "Oh," she said suddenly, her disconcerted expression breaking into a smile as she noticed Zuko and Mai across the room.

"So I hear you're working at the circus with Ty Lee now," Zuko remarked conversationally.

"Yeah," Mai replied, pulling out one of her many throwing knives and toying with it idly, "She said they could use a good knife thrower and I am one of the best."

"I'll vouch for that," Zuko smiled uneasily, eying the sharp instrument and remembering how close she had been to skewering him a number of times when they had opposed each other.

Suddenly Ty Lee popped up between them with a mischievous smile.

"Look at you two, talking so nicely, you'd make the perfect royal couple," she said cheerily and then added as she adopted dreamy tone, "I can picture it now, Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai."

"She's joking of course," Mai laughed nervously, not wanting her unrequited crush on the Fire Lord to be revealed and turned toward the giggling acrobat and remarked pointedly, "Besides, that juggler guy at the circus is pretty cute."

"What guy?" Ty Lee said with a startled look, then quickly added, " I saw him first!"

Zuko and Mai began chuckling, a rare thing for both of them, and Ty Lee's expression of jealousy melted away as she began giggling too.

* * *

The sound of faint music and laughter roused Momo into wakefulness. Springing up, the little lemur quickly took in his surroundings. He was still in the palace garden where he had fallen asleep earlier that day. Appa was nowhere in sight and the sky had already grown dark.

Suddenly an angry growl sounded from nearby. Arching his back, Momo let out a quick screech and then took to the air and sailed into an open palace window.

Gliding through the corridors, Momo began searching for the source of the faint music. The corridors were long, empty, and poorly lit, despite the glowing pillars of fire that were placed at intervals.

At one point Momo paused and landed to look at a group of men standing in the shadows. One of them, a figure Momo didn't like the looks of, was giving hushed commands to the others and holding a peculiar looking weapon.

"The Avatar will be extremely resistant to this poison so I'm putting all there is into this one shot," Tze said slowly, "You'll have to be accurate."

"I understand," said one of the men, disguised as a palace guard.

"You know what the consequences are if you miss," Tze said sternly, then turning to the other men, finished, "The poison should take affect immediately, I trust you and your men know what to do."

"Yes General Tze," another man saluted, "We'll have all the soldiers positioned to rush them. We'll swarm the place; the Avatar is as good as ours."

"Lets hope so," Tze replied with an evil grin.

As Momo took to the air again, Tze made eye contact with him for a brief moment and then continued his hushed orders, ignoring the little 'pest'. Momo could tell something about these men was wrong.

Continuing his flight through the palace corridors, it wasn't long before Momo landed lightly at one of the entrances to the grand chamber of the fire palace. His eyes grew wide as he took in the room filled with guests but more importantly, food. Forgetting to warn anyone about sight he had just beheld, Momo scurried over to the dining tables and quickly began gathering all the fruit from the platters.

* * *

As Iroh got up to check on his nephew, Aang slid up from his slouched position as he saw Momo running down the table, arms full of various foods.

"Hey Momo, where have you been?" he asked cheerily, reaching out towards the little lemur.

Suddenly remembering what he had seen outside, Momo dropped his armload and clambered up Aang's outstretched arm. He began pulling at the boy's clothing and letting out a shrill squawking noise.

"Haha, what is it Momo?" Aang asked, laughing as the ecstatic lemur continued it's attempts to communicate with Aang.

But it was too late. Suddenly a dart flew through crowd and caught Aang on the side of the neck.

"Hey," he winced, plucking the dart out and staring into the crowd.

Everything seemed to fall apart at once as a mob of strangely armored men bearing fire nation symbols appeared at all the entrances of the chamber, fighting there way through the guards. Tapestries caught fire and a scream from one of the guests sent the room into a panic. People began pushing their way towards the exits as the armored men pushed their way inside, many of them heading towards the Avatar. Aang immediately recognized the leading men as the ones who had attacked him earlier that day.

"Coming back for more?" he asked confidently, standing up and taking a stance, "You won't be so lucky this time."

Aang shifted his arms into an airbending attack that should have knocked his approaching attackers off their feet. But nothing happened. Looking slightly puzzled, he tried again, this time using an elaborate earthbending technique. Still nothing. His eyes grew large with the sudden realization that somehow his bending had been blocked.

"Uh-oh," he gasped as the firebending attackers rushed him.

* * *

"Aang, what's going on!" Katara shouted over the panic from across the chamber.

"He's over there," Sokka yelled to his sister from nearby, "He can hold his ground, we need to get the Earth King and Chief Arnook out of here!"

"Right," Katara nodded, bending the tea from the broken cups dropped by the panicking crowd and performing an ornate series of water whipping tentacles against the attackers that surged around them.

Sokka made good use of his weapons, wielding his club in one hand and his boomerang in the other as he whacked several of the attackers across the head. As he fought, he quickly ushered the Earth King and Chief Arnook between his sister and himself. They seemed to face overwhelming odds until Iroh emerged from the panicked crowd.

"Who are these guys?" Katara asked quickly as she knocked a soldier off his feet.

"I'd guess part of the same group that attacked Aang earlier," Iroh shouted, "It seems they brought their friends."

Using his mastery of firebending, Iroh used short concentrated blasts of fire to take down his soldiers while deflecting the attacker's fire blasts with defensive blocks from his hands. As the ever-increasing enemy soldiers came into range, Iroh would take them out with hand-to-hand combat, whacking them out of the way with little effort.

"What about Zuko?" Katara shouted, taking a quick glance behind her back at her brother and Iroh.

"Don't worry about him, I think he's got things under control," Sokka responded as he knocked aside a charging foe and pointed with his boomerang.

* * *

Zuko and Mai stood back to back as the horde firebenders and rebel soldiers swarmed around them. Zuko exercised his fire bending mastery as he spun in all directions redirecting the incoming flames back at their foes, protecting both himself and Mai. Mai whirled around with him casting all a manner of knives and throwing darts around him from her sleeves.

"Nice shot," Zuko gasped between fire strokes as he took notice of the unfortunate man Mai had just pinned to a pillar.

"Thanks, I try," she breathed heavily, yet somehow retaining her monotone voice as she delivered more of her deadly blades over Zuko's shoulder.

* * *

Aang found himself fighting for his life as he dodged flaming fists the best he could manage without his bending. Ducking and sidestepping, he was making a decent stand against the attackers, but it was a hopeless situation quickly worsening. With a quick knock on the head from behind, Aang was out cold.

"Heh, just like before," the grinning man who had done the job said before being pummeled by a fury of quick jabs from the airborne Ty Lee.

Dodging madly as she landed, Ty Lee continued to strike at the attackers as they tried to hoist Aang away. She succeeded in disabling several of them, but proved no match for the crowd of attackers bearing spears that circled her. As defeat grew on her normally cheery face, she suddenly trembled with shock as the stone floor lurched up beneath her.

Toph, who had been having a hard time figuring out what was going on with all the panic and vibrations, bowled a pack of rebel firebenders over as she rode into the scene on a flat stone.

"Will some one tell me what's going on!" she shouted as she blasted several floor stones into the angry rebels.

"They have the Avatar, they're trying to take him away," Ty Lee shouted, taking a running tumble to the blind earthbender's side, "There's too many of them, I can't see him anymore!"

As Toph and Ty Lee worked together to defeat the soldiers, Mai, Zuko, Katara, Iroh, and Sokka joined them. When the Avatar had been taken away the enemy soldiers had begun an immediate retreat. Soon all the mobile enemies had fled, leaving behind all of those who couldn't pick themselves up.

As Aang's friends rushed out of the palace after the attackers, they were confronted with the scene of General Tze holding the still unconscious Aang with one hand, a flame sparking from the fingertips of his other was held near the boy's head.

"Don't try it Lord Zuko," he said threateningly, "Or you can say goodbye to the Avatar."

Sokka and Katara were ready to charge despite being outnumbered and were about to do so when Zuko shouted, "Don't," spreading his arms to hold back his friends.

They stared across the open ground at Tze and his rebel soldiers with concerned looks. Though it was unbearable to let Tze have his way, no one was ready to risk Aang's safety.

"A wise decision," Tze laughed, "You'll be hearing from me again," he finished as he began backing away with his soldiers.

* * *

Aang's vision began to clear and he found himself seated on a small earthen platform in a swamp. The muddy waters rippled around him as he looked up to find himself surrounded by gnarled trees poking out of the water. It suddenly became clear to him that this wasn't just a swamp, but that when he was knocked unconscious he had also been knocked into the spirit world.

"Avatar Aang," a familiar voice echoed from behind, breaking the eerie silence, "I have been looking for you."

Turning in alarm, Aang looked up at the towering figure of Wan Shi Tong.


	4. The Rescue part 1

Everyone stood silently watching as the glowing lanterns held by Tze's soldiers retreated into the night. As they blended with the glow of the city lights and began disappearing all together, the hush that had fallen on the distressed group of friends was broken by an anguished sigh from Zuko.

Without warning, Katara turned suddenly with a resolute expression, "We've got to follow them. Sokka, get Appa. Toph, come with me," she ordered, grabbing the girl roughly, then turning to face Mai and Ty Lee, "You two can come if you want. Zuko--"

"We can't," he shrugged, hanging his head, "Tze will kill him if he sees us following."

Staring at Zuko wide-eyed, Katara exploded, "You would have us sit here and do nothing while Aang's life is in danger? We don't have time for your moody insights. This is _your_ fault; where were those extra guards you promised earlier? They sure weren't much help when they took Aang!"

"Guys, guys, lets not get carried away," Sokka began uneasily as he stepped between Zuko and Katara, knowing all to well where the conversation was going.

"My fault, you think this is my fault!?" Zuko fumed as he shoved Sokka out of the way and took a step towards Katara threateningly, "I suppose it's also my fault that that I was born the fire prince, my fault that none of my generals respect me, and my fault that Aang couldn't defend himself from them!"

Katara glowered at Zuko in response, clenching her fists tightly. Zuko glared back with equal bitterness.

"Stop it, both of you," Iroh ordered forcefully, pushing them apart and looking at them sternly, "We cannot save Aang by fighting amongst ourselves." Zuko and Katara's scowls did not waver, though they relented to Iroh's command and turned away from each other. Satisfied, Iroh continued gravely with a sorrowful expression, "I'm afraid however that Zuko is right, Tze will not hesitate to kill the Avatar if we show signs of following him."

"There must be something we can do," Toph groaned despairingly.

"You don't think they'll kill him anyway, do you?" Ty Lee gulped, her sad expression contrasting greatly from her normally cheery mood.

"His life is safe, rest assured," Iroh explained slowly, "Tze would not have gone to all the trouble of capturing the Avatar if he planned to kill him. I believe he has other things in mind," he finished, turning to Zuko who nodded knowingly.

"He going to use Aang to control the throne."

"That's what it's all about isn't it: your throne," Katara muttered acidly under her breath.

Zuko shot her a murderous look, trembling with rage yet somehow holding his tongue. Without saying anything, he turned and retreated into the palace, flames flickering from his clenched fists held at his sides. Everyone's gaze traveled from the departing Fire Lord to the hostile water bender.

"What!" she shouted menacingly, and when she received no answer she exhaled and stated without looking at them, "I'm going to bed." With that she turned and trudged into the palace.

"Are you sure there's nothing we can do?" Mai asked after Katara left, her tone emotionless but her countenance unmistakably sorrowful.

Iroh looked at his young friends' forlorn faces and, putting on a face of strength and confidence that he hardly felt, he replied, "There is nothing we can do now except prepare ourselves for what Tze has planned. If we wait patiently an opportunity to save Aang will show itself."

"Iroh's right," Sokka nodded, "Tze probably expects us to chase after him, but if we hold back and prepare ourselves for his advances, we should be able to outwit him. Then the way to save Aang will be clear."

Iroh nodded in agreement and then proposed, "I know you are all terribly shaken up and upset, but I think it would be best if you got some rest. The events that I fear will transpire tomorrow must be approached with rested minds and spirits.

As everyone headed back into the palace, Iroh spoke again as he took a different route, "If you'll excuse me, I must get the palace guards and soldiers organized. Tze has had one victory tonight, I don't want him to have another."

* * *

Sokka and Toph made their way through the quiet palace corridors to their rooms. Mai and Tai Lee had departed with their parents and neither Katara nor Zuko was anywhere to be found.

Sokka and Toph were extremely tired after the battle that had occurred less than an hour before and both felt thoroughly dispirited. It had been painful enough that Aang was captured, but another encore of one of Katara and Zuko's legendary clashes had sent everyone further over the edge.

"They always pick the worst times to fight," Sokka complained tiredly, throwing his hands in the air, "They get along just fine most of the time. Why do they always have to get at each others' throats whenever something bad happens, especially now when Aang is missing."

Glancing at Toph for a moment because of her unusual silence, he noticed Toph wiping her at her eyes.

Putting a comforting arm around her Sokka solaced, "Don't cry Toph, Aang will be fine, you'll see."

Throwing his arm off forcefully, Toph snarled, answering truthfully, "I'm not crying Meathead, theres some dust in my eyes!"

Sokka backed off rubbing his smitten arm awkwardly and muttering an . He knew she wasn't one to cry, but he thought for sure that everything that had happened that night had been too much for even her rock-solid fortitude.

As if seeing his wounded expression Toph spoke again, her harsh tone replaced with a gentle exhalation, "Sokka, do you really think Aang will be alright?"

She hadn't been crying, but losing Aang like that had bothered her.

"Of course he will," Sokka smiled, despite that fact that she couldn't see it, "We've gotten out of worse situations than this."

"Yeah," she agreed, then slapped him across the back friendlily to show him that she didn't mind his show of concern, she continued confidently, "We'll show Tze and his scum what happens when they mess with one of our friends!"

"Right," Sokka agreed as he caught Toph's contagious confidence, "First thing in the morning you and I are going to come up with a plan to save Aang. Tze won't know what hit him."

The two friends continued walking down the quiet palace corridor to their rooms, both with a renewed sense that everything would turn out just fine.

"Sokka?" Toph asked as she walked beside him.

"Huh?" he replied looking down at her.

"Thanks."

* * *

Iroh had returned to the chamber where the celebration party for the peace between nations had been held only an hour before. The room was a wreck. Ashes were scattered on the floor along with broken tables and other stray debris. Shaking his head, Iroh turned to the palace official next to him.

"You've rallied the remaining palace guard?" he questioned.

"Yes sir, the palace guards have been stationed around the palace," the official replied uneasily.

"Good," Iroh replied, nodding to the guard and then walking over to where the Earth King and Chief Arnook entered the room a short distance away, accompanied by several officials from their respective nations.

"Have you learned anything about what took place here?" Arnook asked Iroh as he approached.

Stepping forward, one of the advisors to the Earth King quickly spoke up, "Are you prepared for the consequences for what happened? Do you understand the defeating effects this has on the treaty? Can you really expect the Earth Kingdom to stand by the Fire Nation when you allow this kind of thing to happen?"

Stunned by the sudden onslaught of questions, Iroh raised his hand to say something but was interrupted by a young Water Tribe advisor.

"Defeating effects indeed, this all but destroys the pact made tonight, and where is Fire Lord Zuko? He better have a good explanation for this."

"That's enough out of both of you," Arnook glared, "If you'll excuse us," he gestured to show that Iroh, Kuei, and himself would speak alone.

"But-but, sir?" the Earth Kingdom advisor tried.

"You heard him," the Earth King said dismissively as he waved the advisors away.

"As I was saying," Chief Arnook resumed as the advisors trudged away, "Did you find out what the purpose of the attack was?"

"Yes actually," Iroh explained, "It seems that one of Fire Lord Zuko's generals, General Tze, used the attack as a distraction to capture the Avatar. Because he is," Iroh hesitated, "I mean, because he _was_ an honorable general to the Fire Nation, none of the guards suspected him or his 'advisors' when they entered the palace. Some of the guards even sided with his rebellious cause."

"And what is his cause?" Kuei interrupted.

Shaking his head, Iroh explained grimly, "Tze served under Zuko's father, Fire Lord Ozai, and it seems he remains a loyalist to the former fire lord's ideals; he wants the war between the nations to continue."

"I see," Arnook said, "He had two purposes for tonight's attack. To kidnap the Avatar and to discourage everyone from the possibility of peace."

"Yes," Iroh agreed, "And so far he has succeeded."

Smiling slightly, the Earth King shook his head, "No, not entirely. The Earth Kingdom remains confident in the Fire Nation's desire for peace."

"As do the Water Tribes," Chief Arnook added.

Nodding, King Kuei continued, "We will offer whatever assistance we can to rescue the Avatar."

Smiling, Iroh bowed and replied, "We could definitely use it."

* * *

Tze and his men had made a forced marched out of the Fire Capital and across miles of jungle like forest, careful to cover their tracks as well as possible.

Rising above the trees, the old fire palace loomed ghost-like in the night sky. The ancient palace had been abandoned in a time beyond memory and stood as an all but permanent marker of the fire lords from years passed. It was the perfect hide away for the conniving General Tze and his soldiers.

"You've secured the Avatar?" Tze questioned, one hand stroking his goatee as he sat on the ancient stone thrown of the ruined palace.

"Yes sir," the guard that knelt before him replied, "He's chained up and still out cold. We've got half the army in their guarding him."

"Good, we don't want him running off. You recall what happened to the late Admiral Zhou," Tze sneered, recalling how the Avatar had escaped when Zhou had imprisoned him in one of the old fortresses in the Earth Kingdom.

"Yes sir," the guard laughed uneasily, "There's no chance of escape."

"Good, continue with your duties then," Tze ordered, turning from the guard dismissively.

"One thing sir," the guard spoke with concern as he got up from his kneeling position, "The Avatar's tattoos have been glowing since we brought him here. Some of the guards think it's his Avatar State."

"Hmm," Tze mused with a scowl, muttering in thought to himself, "He hasn't put up any resistance, and I was specifically told his Avatar State had been nullified," looking up from his contemplation, he replied to the guard, "I don't know what to make of it, but I suspect it's nothing. Just keep him where he is and report to me when he awakes."

Bowing, the guard left the deteriorating throne room to resume his post. Tze remained seated on the throne in thought.

* * *

"What do you want from me?" Aang demanded of Wan Shi Tong, despite his fear, as he jumped to his feet.

Surrounded by swamp waters and twisted trees, Aang stood ready for any sudden moves from the Knowledge Spirit.

"I don't want to eat you if that's what you think," Wan Shi Tong replied impassively, staring down at the boy, "Rather, I need your help with something."

Lowering his arms and relaxing his stance somewhat, Aang looked at Wan Shi Tong skeptically, "What does an all knowing spirit need the Avatar's help for?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain on the way," the giant owl replied as he turned and strode forward through the swamp. Turning back for a moment to face the still standing Aang, he said again, "You're quite safe. Besides, I think you owe me a favor after your conduct in my library."

Working up his nerve, Aang took a deep breath and approached the Knowledge Spirit. Satisfied, Wan Shi Tong resumed his walk as Aang strode beside him.

"In the dawn of time," Wan Shi Tong began, "The Avatar spirit was created as protector of the earth as well as the protector of mankind; a keeper of order and balance in the universe.

"I think I know that part," Aang started but quickly shut up as Wan Shit Tong lowered his head to be face-to-face with the young monk.

"Then I suppose you also know that this Avatar was a spirit and not a human!" He boomed irritably.

"Wait, what?" Aang asked confusedly.

"Indeed," Wan Shi Tong replied, resuming his walk, "This Avatar was a spirit, and there has been no Avatar as powerful since the time of the great Spirit Avatar Le Jien."

"What happened to him?" Aang asked with an expression of awe and curiosity over the revelation that the Avatar was once a spirit being.

"He was trapped in the spirit world…somehow," Wan Shi Tong said, hesitating on the last word.

"You don't know how?" Aang asked with surprise, looking up at the spirit skeptically.

"I may be the Knowledge Spirit but even I don't know everything." Wan Shi Tong answered, a bit ruffled by the question.

"Oh-kay," Aang replied a bit disconcerted by Wan Shi Tong's sudden disposition, "So why are you telling me this?"

"Because Le Jien still lives," Wan Shi Tong proclaimed, "He is still here trapped in the spirit world, and only a fully realized Avatar can free him from his prison. With his help balance and order can be returned to the mortal world."

"Wait a minute," Aang interrupted once again, "Why do you care? Last time I checked you didn't care much about humans or the mortal world."

"I admit, I acted hastily," Wan Shi Tong began.

"I'll say," Aang muttered as he vaulted over a tangled tree root in his path.

Glaring at the boy, Wan Shi Tong continued, "With Le Jien's help the mortal world will reach a state of stability and balance where my library will be safe once again. Humans will be unable to misuse my knowledge because they will have no reason to."

Aang took this in as he continued walking. Wan Shi Tong's extreme confidence in Le Jien was a bit puzzling; if the spirit Avatar was so powerful, how was he caught and imprisoned in the spirit world, and by whom? Clearly Wan Shi Tong wasn't telling him everything, but for the moment, he decided to play along. He'd rather not get on the giant owl's bad side.

"Since I removed my library from the mortal world, I've found my collection to be rather lacking," Wan Shi Tong continued to drawl as they walked down a dirt trail that rose above the swamp waters, "My knowledge seekers will be free to once again gather artifacts of history and literature after Le Jien aids you in restoring order to the world."

"I suppose that's a good excuse for wanting to free him," Aang said after Wan Shi Tong's lengthy explanation, "And if Le Jien can help bring order to the world, I suppose he'll be doing me a favor as well."

"Yes," Wan Shi Tong replied in an emotionless tone, "He will provide the much needed order and discipline that humans need."

* * *

Since being reorganized by Iroh, the palace hallways had become a circuit of patrolling soldiers. Flames flickered from lamps on the wall in the darkness, casting odd twisting shadows as a pair of guards passed through a hallway. As they disappeared around a corner, the slightly ajar door they had passed opened a few inches more to let out a dark hooded figure.

Dashing down the hall silently, the slim figure dove behind a wall hanging. Two more guards rounded the corner and passed. Sliding from behind the tapestry the figure looked around the corner of one corridor. The two guards that had just passed could be seen continuing their patrol as two more guards approached from the opposite direction.

Turning, the figure ran down another hallway leading into a large pillared room. In the dim light, the hooded stranger breathed silently as more guards approached. Staying pressed up against a pillar, they remained unseen by the guards as they passed.

Continuing their clandestine mission, the figure escaped from the palace without notice and rushed into the open courtyard garden. Looking around from under their hood, scanning for something and apparently not finding it, the figure continued moving about the garden.

Stopping suddenly, finding what they were looking for, the cloaked figure scurried up to the giant sleeping form of Appa. Awakening suddenly to approaching person, Appa raised his huge body letting out a low growl.

"Shh, Appa, it's me!" Katara hissed as she cast her hood back.

Appa let out a quiet, relieved groan.

"Appa," Katara continued as she rubbed the beast's muzzle, "Aang's been captured. We have to rescue him."

Appa's eyes grew wide at the mention of his companion's name, somehow understanding Katara's dire message. A noise behind Katara caused her to spin around in surprise.

"Going somewhere?" Zuko asked, emerging from the darkness in a black cloak similar to the one she wore.

"Back off Zuko," Katara growled angrily, "If you expect me to do nothing while Aang's in trouble you better think again."

"You're not going anywhere," Zuko said as he approached and passed her to stand next to Appa. He paused for a moment to scratch the bison's head.

"You have no authority over me," she spat at him, "My best friend is in trouble and no one, not even the Fire Lord, is going to stop me from saving him," she finished, watching as Appa lowered himself to allow the Fire Lord to hoist himself to a seated position behind the giant bison's head.

"What I meant," Zuko growled back harshly, "Is that you're not going anywhere without me." As he finished he held his hand out to her.

Katara stared at him in disbelief, regarding his outstretched hand with suspicion. Frowning, she stepped next to Appa and, ignored Zuko's hand, lifted herself up quickly.

"Alright," she said, seated next to Zuko, "Let's go."


	5. The Rescue part 2

Flying from the garden, Appa sailed over the palace walls and into the moonlit sky. A few palace guards had a brief glimpse of the beast before he was lost from sight. Blinking and rubbing their eyes, they dismissed it with a shrug, assuming the Avatar's Bison was going for the equivalent of a night walk. Seated next to each other, their cloaks flapping wildly in the wind, Zuko and Katara sat atop the Bison's head.

"Do you know where we're going?" Katara asked blankly without looking at Zuko.

"I have a good idea," Zuko replied, staring ahead across the landscape and gripping Appa's reins firmly.

The tension between the two teens was clearly evident; neither had forgotten their harsh exchange that occurred just hours before. Sitting in uncomfortable silence, they ignored each other for most of their flight, focusing absently on the horizon.

After long silence Katara turned to Zuko and asked uneasily, "So what made you change your mind?"

"Not now," Zuko replied dismissively, motioning with his hand, "we're going down."

Flying in low, Appa zigzagged between treetops as the old Fire Palace took shape in front of them. As he landed silently among the trees, Zuko and Katara slid onto the grassy ground.

"Thanks Appa," Katara said, patting him affectionately on the head, "we'll be back with Aang. Wait here."

"Stay hidden," Zuko reminded, also patting Appa thankfully for the ride.

Letting out a low yawn in reply Appa crept into a thick patch of bushes. Doing his, he squirmed around for a moment trying hide his immense body in the scratchy shrubbery. Finally succeeding and lying at an awkward angle, he let out quick snort to signal that he was hidden.

Katara normally might have let out a stifled giggle at Appa's humorous attempts to hide himself, but her present resoluteness would not allow it. Aang was in trouble and those responsible were going to understand the consequences of capturing someone she held dear.

Looking at Zuko, she noticed a similar resoluteness, though it's source remained elusive to her. Something had changed his mind from his earlier position against pursuing Aang's attackers. What had done this, she didn't know and it didn't matter at the moment; rescuing Aang was what mattered.

Pulling up their cloaks and throwing their hoods over their heads, Zuko and Katara cut through the trees towards the ruined palace. Luckily for them the old palace had been in such a state of ruin and unkemptness that the forest had grown right to the edge of the walls.

As they moved forward through the trees Zuko threw up a cautioning hand to Katara. Pausing, she watched attentively from behind a tree trunk as he moved forward.

She knew he was somewhat of an expert at stealth and other surreptitious activities, his skills proved very useful when infiltrating the Fire Nation. She felt somewhat thankful for his presence; he really was a capable warrior and bender and she could definitely use his help in rescuing Aang.

Coming back through the trees, Zuko interrupted her thoughts and signaled for her to follow. Coming up to the wall silently, they peered upwards. The glow of a guard's lantern showed for a brief moment, then moved away. Tracing the side of the wall, moving quickly but silently, they soon found an entrance, a large hole in the wall that appeared to have been created long ago.

Looking past twisted metal and torn stones, they were shocked by the lack of guards at the entrance. Moving through carefully, they checked to make sure the guards on the battlements weren't looking before dashing through the open courtyard to a doorway into the main structure.

"What is this place?" Katara whispered as they hid for a moment in the darkness of the room they had entered.

"The old Fire Palace," Zuko explained, looking out the doorway they had just entered to make sure they had not been seen, "when I was younger my mother would tell me stories about this place, about how thieves and mercenaries would hide here from the authorities."

Katara looked at him unbelievingly, "You figured out they were holding Aang here based on that?"

Zuko turned from the doorway to face the girl stating plainly, "I questioned some of the men that were left behind back at the palace. I can be quite persuasive at times and they were all to eager to reveal his hiding place." Smirking a little, he added, "I suppose you were going to just fly around the country side looking for them?"

"C'mon, lets keep moving," Katara replied, irritated by Zuko's comment but controlling her temper.

She wasn't about to start with Zuko in the middle of the enemy's camp and she could let that one go at least until Aang was safe.

Heading down the torch lit passageways, they moved silently, checking various rooms hoping to find the Avatar but each time with no luck. Sticking together because of the danger in splitting up, they progressed quickly, navigating several floors of the fortress.

"Hey, Zuko," Katara began in a hushed tone, putting a hand on his shoulder, "where are all the guards?"

Turning to look at her worried face, wearing a similar expression, Zuko concurred, "I've noticed that too, but I don't know what it means. We should keep looking."

The lack of guards was very disturbing to both of them, especially in the dark atmosphere of the old palace. The few guards that they did come across, dressed in an odd attire somewhat similar to the usual Fire Nation soldier garb, were easily avoided, but there should have been more. Both of them felt it; something was wrong.

As they moved down another hallway, checking through door slits for any sight of Aang, Zuko made a quick inhale of breath.

"Katara," he whispered, not taking his eyes away from the tiny window in the door, "I found out where all the guards are."

Pressing her face next to his, Katara peered through the slit to see a room filled with the rebel soldiers. They sat around on low benches, some gambling with dice, others eating, and still others merely sitting tiredly around fires situated below vents hanging down from the ceiling. In the center of what appeared to be the rebel soldier convention lay the miserable form of Aang, unconscious and constricted by numerous ropes.

Katara let out a silent gasp. The fight that had been in her since Tze had left with Aang drained as the immense danger of the situation registered. How could they get to him with so many guards?

Putting his fingers to his lips, Zuko pulled her away from the door, whispering, "I've got an idea."

* * *

"Here it is," Wan Shi Tong said in his echoing tone, "Le Jien's prison."

Aang and the Knowledge Spirit stood before a stone, tomb-like structure sitting in the middle of the dense swamp. The trail they stood on led right up to the building meeting a door hewn into the rock. Approaching it, Aang noticed the strange inscriptions carved into the stone, written in a language he didn't know yet somehow understood.

The words echoed in his mind as he read, "Here rests the Spirit Avatar Le Jien."

Scanning the door for a handle or other means of opening it and finding no such device, he asked, "How do we open it?"

"You're the Avatar, you tell me," the owl replied, blinking his huge eyes at Aang.

Turning away from Wan Shi Tong, Aang regarded the door. The more he stared at it, taking in the writing and the ornately carved symbols from each of the elemental nations, the more he became aware of his doubt concerning the whole situation. But even as his feelings of doubt ran through his mind, a powerful curiosity overtook him.

He stared at the door tentatively as it beckoned to him, compelling him to open it. Reaching out slowly as Wan Shi Tong looked on expectantly, Aang placed a hand in the center of the door creating a connection between the four elemental symbols through his palm.

Immediately a surge of light bled from the symbols and met under Aang's hand. He recoiled in shock as the light spread from his hand to the rest of the door, eating away the solid rock. Taking several steps back he covered his face with an arm as the light on the stone vanished and the door crumbled into powder, letting an even brighter, blinding light escape from within.

Lowering his arms a bit, Aang looked on as a figure that seemed to be the source of the light stood within the tomb. All at once the light shot back into the figure and was gone.

Standing inside the remaining stone monument was a man like figure wearing a gown of black and standing motionless. The skin that had absorbed the previous light glowed silver on the spirit's uncovered face and hands, all four hands, Aang realized with shock as the spirit flexed all four of its arms experimentally.

As it took a step forward its face became clear, shaped like a man's with wide eyes glowing black in contrast with the silver skin. Between the pointed goatee and stringy mustache, the lips parted in a sudden intake of breath.

Aang stared awe struck while Wan Shi Tong, still standing where he had been during the opening of the door, made a bow before the Spirit Avatar.

"Le Jien," he said reverently, head bowed, "I trust you'll forgive me for my past wrongs against you. I've learned the hard way that your methods are the only way to deal with humans. The world needs you now more--"

Le Jien looked at Wan Shi Tong with an unreadable expression as the Knowledge Spirit spoke before him. As baton like weapons slid suddenly from his sleeves, Le Jien interrupted Wan Shi Tong with a quick blow across the head with his two left arms, knocking the owl into a senseless heap.

"You are forgiven," Le Jien bellowed to the unconscious owel.

Aang took a step back, wide eyed as Le Jien came forward.

Turning to regard him for the first time, Le Jien spoke, "And I suppose you're the Avatar."

Aang stood just feet from Le Jien, eyes wide, eyebrow twitching, and wishing for he life of him that he could bend in the spirit world, or at least have his staff to defend himself with.

* * *

"Sokka, Sokka!" Toph shouted as she pounded on the door to Sokka and Aang's room, "Hey Snoozles, wake up!"

From inside the room came a crash as Toph felt the vibrations of Sokka falling out of bed, stumbling into and over a table, crashing into a vase, and finally coming to a smashing halt against the door.

Sliding the door open suddenly and looking utterly disheveled, Sokka frowned at Toph, "This had better be good."

"Katara's gone," Toph stated matter-of-factly.

Sokka's frown drooped from 'annoyed' to 'this had better be a dream' as he replied, "You're joking, right?"

"She went out during the night, I thought she was just getting some water, but when I woke up again she was still gone."

"Well maybe she's still getting water. Can I go back to bed?"

Growling in annoyance, Toph slapped Sokka roughly across the face.

Blinking several times into wakefulness Sokka replied, "Thanks, I needed that."

Before they could continue, Iroh came bustling down the hallway coming to a halt in front of them.

"Zuko's gone," he said worriedly.

"Katara too," Toph replied grimly, turning to the old firebender, "And I think we all know where they went."

"Midnight snack?" Sokka offered, "that's where I'd be if I was awake this time of night."

"They probably went off to be alone somewhere," Iroh smiled mischievously, "we should leave them alone."

"We can't let them rescue Aang by themselves," Toph stomped with irritation, "who knows what trouble they'll get into."

"Oh, uh, yes," Iroh replied, wiping the smile from his face as realization of what they were actually most likely doing dawned on him, "what I meant was we should definitely not leave them alone."

"But we don't even know where they went," Sokka interrupted.

Toph shrugged, "For some reason I thought you might be some use at tracking them, but I guess I was wrong."

"Well," Sokka started to explain, puffing with pride before Toph grabbed him and dragged him down the hall, "Save the explanation for later, we've got work to do."

"Wait for me," Iroh called as he gathered up his nightwear to chase after them.

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work," Katara asked doubtfully, shifting uncomfortably in the heavy armor.

She stood dressed in a Fire Nation uniform and watched as Zuko pulled on the shoulder pads to a similar looking outfit. They had no trouble finding a pair of guards willing to let them 'borrow' the uniforms and after depositing the two unconscious guards in an empty room they had begun putting the uniforms on over the top of their clothing.

"It should," Zuko said looking quite satisfied with himself, "as long as we keep the face masks on the guards won't know the difference."

Putting the white mask on, a different design he noticed from the standard Fire Nation mask, Zuko observed as Katara did the same and quickly realized there might be one minor problem.

"Do you think you could stand a little taller?" he asked, silently hoping that she wouldn't take it as an insult.

"Excuse me?" she asked from behind the mask, crossing her arms.

"You're a little short for a Fire Nation soldier."

Rolling her eyes without realizing he couldn't see her annoyed expression, Katara wordlessly grabbed Zuko by the sleeve and dragged him towards the room where Aang was being kept.

Opening the door and walking in casually, the two would-be Fire Nation soldiers entered the room full of guards. A few heads turned in their direction as they came in, but it was clear they were accepted as just two more soldiers joining the 'party'. Looking somewhat out of place since most of the guards weren't wearing their masks, Zuko and Katara made their way cautiously towards Aang.

Standing at either side of him, they looked around the room. No one paid them much attention, most were busy with conversations, eating, or just hanging their heads trying to catch some sleep. Katara knelt next to Aang, making sure he was okay while Zuko stood in front of her doing his best to hide her from view.

"Here we go," Katara whispered as she picked up the unconscious form of Aang.

Zuko helped her up and carrying Aang between them, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, they began to move towards the door. Progress was slow because of Aang's unconsciousness. His feet dragged on the floor and his head hung down, lolling sickly.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" a guard cried out as he got up from his seat and approached them.

Thinking quickly, Zuko shrugged, "He has to use the bathroom."

The guard looked at Zuko suspiciously, then looked at the still form of Aang, "He doesn't look like he has to go to the bathroom to me, he isn't even awake!"

Moving Aang's head up and down slightly and doing her best to mimic his voice, Katara spoke out, "Oh, I'm definitely awake, and I'd really like to use the bathroom please."

Still looking suspicious, the guard eyed Zuko and Katara carefully, then relaxed, "All right, make sure he's quick about it."

Nodding, Zuko and Katara continued across the chamber to the door, silently breathing a sigh of relief. Zuko reached out and had cracked the door open when suddenly from inside Aang's shirt a small movement occurred causing Katara to shriek when Momo's furry face popped out of Aang's shirt, letting out an equally startled screech.

As Momo, who had managed to hide in Aang's shirt during the battle at the Fire Palace, bounded through the slightly ajar door unseen, the guard that had been returning to his seat whirled around and shouted, "Wait!"

Turning nervously, Katara and Zuko watched as the man approached.

"You," the man pointed at Katara, recognizing her as the one who had just screamed, "Take off your mask."

"There's no need for that," Zuko tried, stepping forward only to be shoved back by the guard. Other soldiers who were shocked into wakefulness by Katara's shriek got up to form a semi-circle around the two 'guards' holding the Avatar.

"I said take it off," the guard commanded again.

Slowly bringing her hands up to the helmet, Katara began sliding it off, then suddenly threw it in the face of the guard and shouted, "Run!"

* * *

Le Jien stood before Aang, arms at his sides and silver hands hidden in his sleeves.

Aang, looking very much afraid, pointed at Wan Shi Tong and asked forcefully despite his fear, "Why did you do that, what did he ever do to you?"

"The foolish bird had it coming after the part he played in my imprisonment," Le Jien answered, his expression twisting into a slight smile as he read the confused and fearful expression on Aang's face, "he and the other spirits didn't like the way I approached my responsibilities as Avatar, so they imprisoned me. They claimed the Avatar must experience the spectrum of human emotion, a feet no spirit can accomplish. Fools, could they not see the very nature of humans is to destroy each other and the earth in a downward spiral of unbalance."

Whirling two of his arms for a moment, the other two sitting limp at his sides, Le Jien created a glowing light in front of him that transformed into a window like hole in the air. He beckoned for Aang to come look inside and though he was immensely afraid, Aang managed to take a nervous few steps forward to peer into the artificial window.

Images swirled and slowly defined themselves. Scenes of robbery, murder, self-destruction, flashed by as Aang and Le Jien looked on. Wars were played out in front of their eyes, some of the scenes were from the Fire Nation's one hundred year war and others were wars from the past, the names of which were forgotten. Aang saw the expressions on the faces of the individuals involved: varying forms of anger, sorrow, hopelessness, pain, and in some cases a snide happiness.

"All that you see is the result of the disorder that humans embrace," Le Jien spoke with a sense of duty, "The human's emotions lead them to hurt one another, to destroy the earth and make war on one another. They divide themselves into nations and view each other with hatred and greed, wishing to gain advantages over one another."

Aang looked on hypnotically as Le Jein closed the window with his hands and continued, "They must be disciplined, controlled by one who is without their petty emotions. It is the Avatar's duty to rule them; to strike a balance between them and the rest of the world that prevents them from their course of self destruction."

"Aang, don't listen to the Le Jien!" a voice spoke out suddenly. Aang blinked as if waking up and turned to his right as Avatar Roku appeared at his side. Following Roku, Avatar Kyoshi, Avatar Kuruk, and Avatar Yangchen appeared.

"Aang," Avatar Yangchen spoke in a serious tone, "I know you do not remember our meeting, but you must recall why the Avatar was made human. Le Jien does not understand humanity the way a human can. But you do understand, you have lived among them and have experienced their emotions."

"You know the preciousness of human life," Avatar Kyoshi confirmed, "a thing Le Jien would destroy without a second thought."

"Don't listen to these long dead fools," Le Jien spoke out angrily, "I understand the balance that must be kept better than any of them."

"The balance he speaks of is tyranny," Avatar Kuruk said, pointing accusingly at Le Jien.

Avatar Roku nodded, "He would seek to the rule world and the lives of all humans in a way tenfold worse than if the Fire Nation were to have succeeded."

"Nonsense!" Le Jien shouted, striking out angrily at Aang's past lives with each of his four arms. With each strike one of the Avatars disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Turning to face Aang again, Le Jien said, "You cannot believe them, they do not have the knowledge that a spirit would have."

"You're right, they don't," Aang agreed, then added defiantly "and you don't have the knowledge that only a human would have."

Le Jien looked at Aang, a frown forming on his lips, as Aang continued, the words of his past lives giving him strength, "Its the Avatar's duty to protect humanity, not to rule and control it. Humans may have their faults, but they have the capacity for so much more: love, companionship, happiness, and understanding. You can't force them to be perfect."

"I was afraid you'd say that, " Le Jien exhaled smoothly as his baton weapons slid from his sleeves.

"I won't let you destroy everything my past lives and I have worked towards," Aang said dutifully, taking a defensive stance.

"Then you must be destroyed!" Le Jien cired, striking out maliciously as he shot forward swinging his weapons.

Aang ducked the first strike, side stepped another, leaped over the third and rolled past the fourth. Le Jien turned with his roll swinging his baton in an underhand movement hitting Aang across the arm and sending him spiraling into the swamp water.

"There's only room in this world for one Avatar," he said as he approached Aang slowly.

Leaping to his feat Aang backed up as Le Jien came forward, looking around him for anything he could use to defend himself. Too late, Le Jien thrust his weapons forward, swinging and jabbing with precise movements. Aang ducked and dodged wildly but without his staff or his bending only managed to stand a few seconds before receiving a hard blow to the chest, sending him skipping across the swamp water like a stone and slamming into a tree.

As he lay dazed in the swamp water, stars exploding before his eyes, suddenly the image of Avatar Roku appeared before him once again, "Aang, Aang! Can you hear me?"

"Roku?" Aang asked dreamily, head spinning and wondering if he wasn't just imagining the image of his past life.

"Aang, help is coming," Roku explained weakly, "listen to me, you must cover your face."

"Cover my what?" Aang asked, holding his sore head and trying to get up as Le Jien approached.

"Cover you face!" Roku exclaimed as he began to fade, "Now!"

Doing as he was told, Aang pulled his shirt over his face as quickly as he could.

Le Jien approached at his usual slow pace, laughing mockingly, "Hiding won't help you now Avatar Aang."

As Le Jien raised a pair of arms to deal the final blow, a tremendous cracking sound exploded from Aang's right as a group of gnarled swamp trees splintered into toothpicks. The horrendous form of Koh's centipede body hurtled through the explosion of wood, smashing into Le Jien.


	6. The Rescue part 3

Koh's sudden strike sent Le Jien flying head over heals backwards, landing with a tremendous splash face down in the swamp water. Breathing heavily, Koh twisted his body to its full height, looming high above the fallen form of Le Jien.

"What's going on?" Aang spoke out from under his shirt, unable to see what had just happened, "who's there?"

"I'd advise you to stay out of this," Koh spoke slowly, turning to face the young Avatar and continuing in his sinister tone, "this is between me and the Le Jien."

"Koh," Aang's voice whispered in a shocked horror, suddenly realizing the importance of covering his face.

Backing up blindly until running into a wall of trees, Aang stood breathlessly, not wanting to disobey the Face Stealer's suggestion. Roku had promised help, but Koh was the last person Aang expected to help him.

Pushing himself up from the swamp with his four hands, Le Jien let out a gurgled sound as the swamp water drained from his mouth. Stepping to his feet, dripping with grime, he turned to confront the face stealer.

Wearing a blank expression, the Spirit Avatar spoke with amusement, "Koh the Face Stealer. It's been a long time."

"Le Jien," Koh acknowledge, blinking his eye like socket to show a devious old man's face, "we meet again."

"Don't think I've forgotten you're role in my imprisonment," Le Jien said without emotion, "and this time the other spirits aren't around to help you defeat me."

"Wait," Aang interrupted the two spirits from his tree, addressing Koh incredulously, "you helped humanity by imprisoning Le Jien?"

"I told you to stay out of this!" Koh barked as he turned to face the Aang, face changing to that of an angry bearded man and insect arms clicking menacingly.

Taking advantage of Koh's sudden distraction Le Jien charged forward, battering Koh across the chest and lower legs, sending the Face Stealer stumbling and splashing backwards on his centipede legs and slamming into a tree. Recovering himself quickly, Koh struck out with his upper arms in a sweeping motion, swatting the advancing Spirit Avatar away.

Le Jien tripped up only for a moment before regaining his footing in the murky water. Wiping a blob of mud from his silver skinned face, he stood solidly as Koh crept forward.

"I'll tell you a secret," Koh taunted as his face transformed into that of a contemptuous woman, "I didn't want you imprisoned before and I don't now. I've come for what I've always wanted. Your face!"

With his last words he lunged forward, transforming his face into a blue ogre's and stabbing at Le Jien with his needle like arms.

Striking out at each of the Face Stealer's arms, Le Jien batted them aside viciously with precise strikes. However, Koh had a clear advantage in sheer limb number, and not even Le Jien's four arms could put up enough resistance. Slowly the Face Stealer forced the Spirit Avatar back.

Aang, standing with his back against a tree, could only listen to the spirit's fight as they splashed and exchanged taunts. As much as he wanted to run away or even join in the battle, Aang felt compelled to stay put and await the outcome.

In all honesty he didn't know who he'd rather see win. He considered both the spirits his enemies and although Koh had come to his rescue, Aang found it impossible to swallow the concept that the enemy of his enemy was his friend.

Jabbing downward continually, Koh began snaking his tremendous body around Le Jien. His face transformed into a smirking white mask as he saw the other spirit's demise in sight. Realizing Koh's strategy, Le Jien dived suddenly under Koh's strikes, rolling to escape as the Face Stealer constricted his body. Jabbing quickly as Koh gritted his teeth trying to untangle himself, Le Jien hit the Face Stealer hard at his tail end, sending the giant worm like body into the water.

Koh writhed crazily, half submerged in the swamp and splashing murky water in all directions as he tried to raise himself from the sludge. Le Jien was on him immediately, lashing out powerfully with his baton weapons on Koh's back, searching for the spirit's pressure points to disable him.

Striking out suddenly, Koh flung Le Jien from his back and into a tree. Picking himself up, Koh charged the fallen Spirit Avatar, blinking his face into a roaring young warrior's. Le Jien was barely recovering from the shock of hitting the tree when Koh was on him, piercing his clothing with his many centipede arms to pin him to the tree.

An unspoken hate passed between the spirits as the faced each other, each wearing unreadable expressions.

"Just show me a little emotion," Koh crooned maliciously, "even that hate I know you're feeling welling up inside of you."

"You won't get any such enjoyment from me," Le Jien said emotionless, wide black eyes staring at the Face Stealer's confidently.

Observing Le Jien's unwavering expression, Koh changed his face to that of a young woman, snarling evilly, "Then pain will have to suffice!" as he pushed a spiky arm through the spirits middle.

Le Jien suddenly gasped in surprise, face contorting in shock at the Face Stealer's sudden attack. Realizing the battle had ended, Aang slowly uncovered his face to behold a site that would haunt him in dreams for the rest of his life.

Le Jien's face suddenly began glowing radiantly, frozen in its alarmed expression. Koh, grinning hungrily, flexed and clicked his insectile arms around the Spirit Avatar's face. A green light exploded silently from Le Jien's face, blinding Aang for a moment.

Rubbing his eyes before looking again, he saw Le Jien lying faceless in the swamp. A few feet away Koh lay in the water on his side facing away from the Aang.

Take a step forward, Aang approached the fallen Spirit Avatar. Leaping back in horror, eyes wide with surprise, Aang cringed as Le Jien's faceless body let out an agonizing wail. Staggering up weakly, the Spirit Avatar ran blindly into the swamp like a wounded animal, running into a few trees but otherwise stumbling forward until becoming lost to sight.

* * *

Carrying Aang over his shoulder, Zuko ran beside Katara with what seemed the entirety of Tze's forces bearing down on them. They passed Momo as they ran, who had stopped momentarily in the hallway.

Watching Zuko and Katara run by, Momo turned his head to see the angry soldiers approaching. Letting out a panicked shriek, he bounded off after his two keepers.

Making quick turns around corners, mad sprints down straightaways, and leaping down stairways several steps at a time, the two rescuers raced through the old Fire Palace. Since Zuko was carrying Aang, Katara was left with defensive duties. With her water satchel tucked away under her Fire Nation disguise, she could only bend what little water they came across into small sheets of ice on the floor. These little traps proved effective however, sending the soldiers sliding into walls in confusion.

"How can you bend in these things," she said between defensive strokes, gesturing to the uniform, "they're so uncomfortable."

"You're telling me," Zuko panted, ripping the helmet from his head with his free hand and tossing it to the ground.

Dodging by Zuko's fallen helmet, Momo leaped into the air, spreading his wings to take flight. Gliding upward, Momo ended his brief flight by landing on Zuko's free shoulder. Looking up at the lemur, Zuko rolled his eyes as he continued running, wondering if Katara would decide she didn't feel like running either and hop aboard the Zuko express.

Continuing the chase out of the palace entrance, Katara immediately noticed that it had been raining since they entered the old ruin. The sky was filled with rain clouds and puddles had formed all over the dimly lit courtyard.

Stopping outside the palace entrance, she bended the water from the puddles into a huge sphere of water. With several fluid movements of her arms, she built an ice wall over the entrance, effectively blocking their pursuers.

"Very clever," came a voice through the falling rain from a corner of the palace courtyard behind them, "you've successfully outwitted my men and saved the Avatar." Zuko turned and locked eyes with the speaker.

"General Tze," Zuko acknowledged his adversary harshly, readjusting Aang on his shoulder causing Momo to leap away.

"I think its time we finished something we started a long time ago, " Tze said as he approached, eying Aang, then finishing mockingly, "that is, if you're not too encumbered to fight for your honor."

"I've been ready," Zuko spat out testily, easing Aang off his shoulder and handing him to Katara saying, "get him out of here."

"What about you," she questioned concernedly as she held Aang to her chest.

"I'll be fine," Zuko replied, wiping his rain soaked hair from his face and turning to face his opponent, "just go."

Katara stared at Zuko's back as he stood facing his grinning opponent, the rain beginning to soak her hair. She had forgotten all her feelings of annoyance and animosity towards him from their earlier dispute. She didn't want save one friend only to abandon another.

But Zuko was so adamant about his honor, could she really ask him to back down from this duel, an Agni Kai?

Turning suddenly, she ran for the hole in the wall from which they had entered, carrying Aang over her shoulder the best she could manage. Momo followed close at her heels. Glaring at each other and ignoring Katara's exit, Zuko and Tze stood, arms at the ready but unmoving as the rain saturated their clothing.

"She won't get far," Tze broke the silence, mouth breaking into a grin, "I've prepared a little ambush in the woods and the rest of my men will have already taken another exit from the palace to pursue her."

"Katara can handle herself," Zuko replied back, annoyed by Tze's confidence but knowing full well his friend's prowess as a bender.

"I've been waiting years for this day," Tze changed the subject, eyes focused on the Fire Lord and holding his hand out ready to attack, "I must admit that I was more than disappointed that I wouldn't be fighting you all those years ago. I suppose it was fitting that your father scarred you, but I would have enjoyed the honor."

Tze had already been getting on Zuko's nerves, but mentioning his father proved too much. Growling in anger, fists engulfed in flames, Zuko fired a stream of fire at the general, interrupting Tze's taunts. Flaring through the rain-saturated air, lighting up courtyard, the flames met Tze in full force but were swiftly deflected by the general.

Striking out quickly, Tze kicked a bolt of fire speedily back at the Fire Lord. Eyes wide with shock as the fire burnt a hole the arm of the Fire Nation uniform he wore, Zuko mentally cursed himself for letting his anger distract him from staying alert. Regaining his stance, he ignored the pain in his arm as he shot a series of flames back at Tze, breathing sharply as he took a step forward with each punch and gritting his teeth in determination.

Dissipating Zuko's fire blasts, Tze launched two waves of flames from his arms. Taking the waves head on, Zuko redirected them to the ground, making them disappear into the water soaked earth.

"You've improved," Tze growled between clenched teeth, "you've learned to fight back."

Kicking a bolt of fire as he launched himself forward, the Fire Lord replied confidently, "You'll find I've learned a lot more than that."

Shifting his weight sideways to avoid getting burnt, Tze began backing up, dodging Zuko's sudden onslaught and firing back when he could. Fire shooting from both his fists and throwing in the occasional flaming kick, Zuko pushed Tze further and further back. The general managed to burn Zuko in several places, but Zuko endured the pain as he continued his fiery assault.

With one final kick, Zuko knocked Tze to the ground. Lying in a puddle below the courtyard wall, Tze looked up at the Fire Lord. Fear surged through the general as he lie on his back unmoving, eyes wide as he anticipated his death. Zuko glared down at Tze, lighted only by his still flaming fists. Turning him over roughly, he shoved Tze's face in the mud.

"As much as I'd like to finish you here and now," Zuko said harshly as he dug his knee into the general 's back, working quickly to tie his hands with the generals own belt, "I need to make a public example of you so that no one will ever contest my throne again."

As he finished tying Tze's hands, Zuko suddenly found himself pinned to the wall by three arrows through his shoulder pads and sleeve. The rain had stopped, the clouds had parted, and illuminated by the moon Zuko watched as three archers approached Tze followed by a number of soldiers. Helping the general up, it was Tze's turn to grin triumphantly.

"You may have won the Agni Kai," he said after his men freed him, rubbing his wrists and wiping the mud from his face, "but I always get what I want in the end."

"You fight without honor," Zuko cried back, unwilling to accept Tze's use of his soldiers to change the outcome of the duel.

"Honor?" Tze practically laughed, then scowled "I am the only one left with any honor. The Fire Nation has been disgraced by your brief rule, but the heir of Agni will set things right. Without you, the Fire Nation's honor will be returned."

Grinning at Zuko, Tze continued taunting him with a false tone of pity, "No one will care once you're gone, not any single Fire Nation citizen," and finding Zuko's torment extremely enjoyable, he added, "not even your friends."

Zuko glared death at the general, as Tze continued his verbal assault, "If your friends really cared, don't you think they'd be here at your side instead of running away with the Avatar? Where are they Fire Lord Zuko, where are they?"

"Ahem," Katara answered the general, standing in the broken section of the wall, water streaming from her water skin and ready to do some damage.

Eyes wide with shock, Tze blurted out, "Kill him, now!" as he backed up uneasily into his crowd of soldiers.

Raising their bows to finish Zuko off, the archers suddenly found their hands empty as water whipped by their faces and then returned to knock them off their feet. Having discarded her Fire Nation disguise, Katara began attacking with full vigilance, water gliding through the air in all directions as she struck out furiously.

"Get them!" Tze shouted from amidst his soldiers, pointing at Zuko and Katara, "don't let them escape!"

The soldiers surged forward but found the water bender to be an extremely competent opponent as she doused all flames heading in her direction and snapped spears with ease. Receiving her strength from the moon, which although daylight had begun breaking still held sway in the heavens, Katara kept the soldiers away from Zuko.

"You alright?" she asked as she lay into the soldiers with a tentacle of water.

"Fine, just fine," Zuko said between clenched teeth, using all his strength to pull the arrows pinning him to the wall out. Getting one arm loose, he managed to pull the rest of the arrows out much easier.

"The sun is going to rise soon," he said worriedly as he stepped beside Katara, having noticed the sky begin to brighten, "and we don't want to be around when it does."

Fighting off the soldiers, Katara and Zuko made a steady retreat to the entrance in the wall. Pulling the same trick as before, Katara bent all her remaining water into a wall of ice to keep the soldiers in. But already the effects of the sun had begun to take hold and the fire benders had the ice melted in no time.

Dashing through the woods, Katara and Zuko ran to Appa. Aang, still unconscious, lay on the bison's head. Momo was jumping up and down next to him, chattering with excitement as Katara and Zuko approached, closely followed by the enemy soldiers.

"Yip yip, yip yip!" Katara shouted as she clambered aboard, turning around suddenly and reaching out to Zuko as the bison took to the air.

Grabbing his hand, Katara swung him up onto the bison's head. Flying over the treetops, Zuko could see the soldiers staring up at them, shaking their fists and trying pitifully to shoot the bison down.

He hadn't realized it, but all the fighting and running around without any sleep had completely drained him of energy. Sighing tiredly and lying back in the Appa's fur, Zuko turned to face Katara.

She held Aang close to her, breathing wearily from the battle. He could see that she was as tired as he was, lines from lack of sleep had already appeared under her eyes.

"Thanks," Zuko said simply, "you didn't have to come back."

Katara looked up at him, smiling tiredly, "I know you would have preferred fighting them all yourself but I couldn't just leave you behind."

Returning her bit of sarcasm with an equally tired smile, Zuko closed his eyes as he lay back comfortably. Momo, who had quieted down since taking to the air, bounded onto the fire lord's chest and curled up to take a nap as well.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Rather than post the humongous chapter that I had planned, I've split it in two so that this 'episode' will end next chapter instead of this one.

Also, I changed the title because "Book 4: Air" seemed a little boring. Hopefully the new title proves both attractive and meaningful.


	7. The Rescue part 4

"So why did you wake us up in the middle of the night?" Mai droned, blinking drowsily and rubbing her eyes. Ty Lee stood next to her, eyes half open and staring blankly.

Standing in the chamber where the signing of the treaty between nations had taken place, which had been cleaned up after the battle, Mai and Ty Lee had been called for by Iroh, Sokka, and Toph to help track down Zuko and Katara.

"Zuko and Katara are missing," Iroh explained, stroking his beard in thought, "we believe they went to rescue Aang from General Tze."

"And we need you help to find them," Toph finished for Iroh.

"But we don't know where Tze went," Ty Lee stated tiredly, stretching to wake herself up, "let alone where to start looking."

"We have a search plan," Sokka replied confidently, laying out a map of the Fire Capital and the nearby countryside on the floor for everyone to see, "we'll spread out, leading soldiers in all directions," he motioned with his finger on the map, "an army Tze's size can't stay hidden forever."

"And if Zuko and Katara are already there, we just have to look for the place that's half flooded and half burning to the ground," Toph grinned.

"You guys are so clever, I never would have thought of that," Ty Lee said admiringly before closing her eyes and letting out an immense yawn.

The yawn proved contagious as Sokka, standing up from his map, yawned in return. Noticing this, Ty Lee yawned again, keeping a playful eye on Sokka.

"Sto-aaawwp that!" Sokka cried out, unable to restrain himself from yawning in mid sentence.

Ty Lee giggled and pretended to yawn once more. Mai rolled her eyes and Iroh chuckled.

"All right Snoozles, enough Ostrich-Horsing around, lets get moving," Toph interrupted the chain of yawning.

"Right, lets go save my sister!" Sokka shouted enthusiastically, pointing towards the exit to the room dramatically.

"And the Fire Lord," Iroh reminded.

"Him too," Sokka added as he tucked the map into his belt.

Leading the group, Sokka marched towards one of the exits to the room, only to stop suddenly as Zuko and Katara passed him followed closely by Momo. Scampering up Sokka's clothing, Momo perched on his head and peered down into the teen's frozen face. Mouth agape, Sokka watched out of the corner of his eye as the rest of his friends surrounded Katara. Laying Aang down carefully, she sat on the floor next to him, cradling his head in her lap.

"Zuko," Iroh began, surprised by his nephews sudden return with the Avatar.

"I know uncle," Zuko interrupted him, turning from Katara and Aang, streaming out his explanation wearily, "it was stupid and foolish to go after Tze, but we had to. I know we had agreed to wait it out but we couldn't just leave Aang. We--"

Iroh interrupted his nephew by embracing him, "You did well."

Surprised that his uncle wasn't angry, though it shouldn't have surprised him at all, Zuko smiled tiredly, grateful for his uncle's understanding.

Snapping out of his stupor, Sokka walked over and knelt next to his sister, wrapping an arm around her, "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Katara smiled weakly, turning her gaze from Aang's unconscious form, "I just hope Aang will be alright."

Kneeling next to Katara, Toph placed a hand on the ground. Her worried smile transformed into a grin as she read Aang's breathing through the stone floor.

"He's going to be fine."

"Why are his arrows glowing?" Ty Lee questioned, still looking worried.

"It's his Avatar State stupid," Mai said as she elbowed Ty Lee who replied with an 'ow' and frowned indignantly.

"He's in the spirit world," Iroh explained, having seen Aang in the state before, "we had best keep him here until his spirit returns to his body."

As everyone took a seat around Aang, Iroh pulled his nephew to the side.

"Where did you find him?" he questioned.

"Tze is holding up in the old Fire Palace," Zuko answered in an exhausted tone, running a hand through his hair.

"I should have suspected," Iroh replied thoughtfully, then complimenting, "you did well to sneak in to save Aang. I'm glad you thought things through this time."

Zuko smiled uneasily at his Uncle. The truth was he hadn't thought things through at all, they just happened to work out this time. He had been manipulated by both Katara's anger and his own emotions.

"We should assemble the troops and assault the old palace," Zuko spoke seriously, "Tze will either be attacking or trying to escape."

"Leave that two me," Iroh stopped Zuko from marching off, "you've been up and busy half the night. You need to get some rest."

"Uncle, I'm the Fire Lord, this is my responsibility," Zuko started, but the stern look on his Uncle's face told him there was no arguing.

If Zuko was more awake he might have tried arguing anyway, but in his current state he sighed in tired annoyance and trudged over to his friends.

"Mai, Ty Lee, I could use your help with capturing General Tze," Iroh said once Zuko sat down, knowing full well the two girl's capabilities as warriors, "you two appear well rested and I couldn't imagine a better pair of junior commanders."

"Sure," Ty lee beamed, pulling Mai to her feet, "I could use some more acrobatic practice!"

"Junior commanders?" Mai yawned incredulously, thinking only Iroh would use a term like that.

"You could use the practice too," Ty Lee said as she dragged Mai behind her, following after Iroh.

* * *

Le Jien was gone, but Koh still remained lying in the swamp water unmoving. Working up his nerve and exhaling slowly, Aang focused on keeping a blank face as he approached the spirit.

"Koh?" he ventured, slowly rounding the spirit's body.

"Be careful, young Avatar," Koh breathed heavily, "I wouldn't want to steal your face as well."

Aang stopped dead in his tracks, not willing to round the spirits body any further less he have to confront Koh face to face.

Gulping back his fear he continued, "What happened, I thought you won the battle, you stole Le Jien's face, why are you--"

"I did," Koh interrupted disgustedly between shallow breaths, "but even without his face, Le Jien has great power."

"I don't think we'll be having any more trouble from him," Aang explained calmly, "he ran off screaming into the swamp."

"I cannot risk facing him again," Koh coughed, ignoring Aang's words, "I think its time you returned my previous favors.

Koh had helped Aang on two previous occasions, once at the North Pole when he gave information concerning the Moon and Ocean spirits, and again during the infiltration of the Fire Nation. Both times he had proved exceedingly hostile to Aang, ever threatening to steal the boy's face, but both times he had given valuable information.

"I don't trust you," Aang said truthfully, keeping an even tone less Koh think he was displaying some kind of emotion, "how do I know you're not trying to trick me to steal my face, how do I know you aren't scheming against me?"

"Avatar Aang, you give me too much credit," Koh rasped, letting out a twisted chuckle, "after all the times that I've helped you, you still don't trust me?"

"What do you want me to do?" Aang replied, acknowledging that he did indeed owe the Face Stealer.

"Take this," Koh said suddenly. Aang watched as three of Koh's arms clicked into action, disappearing for a moment and then throwing something over the top of the spirit's body and into the muddy water.

Stooping to pick up the object, Aang gasped suddenly, "Le Jien's face! It's...it's a mask."

Swamp water dripped from the silver mask. Le Jien's black eyes stared without life and his mouth remained frozen in shock. Chills ran through Aang's body just holding it.

"Stealing his face drained much of his power," Koh explained, still facing away from the Avatar and lying unmoving, "but Le Jien is still dangerous. As long as I have his face he will stop at nothing to get it back."

"So you're giving it to me to save yourself," Aang surmised, "Le Jien will pursue me instead of you."

"There is nothing like the taste of a spirits face," Koh replied licking his lips, "but as much as I'd like to keep such a delicacy I cannot accept the risks that come with it. There is too much at stake. Take the mask with you back to the mortal world; it should be safe there."

Forcing back the impulse to gag at Koh's description of 'tasting' a face, Aang asked, "But how do I get back, I hardly know how I got here."

"Just go back to where you came in," Koh explained slowly, his voice beginning to trail, "and be quick about it."

Bowing, Aang replied, "Thank you, I know we have had our differences but I appreciate you helping--"

"Go!" Koh shouted angrily, attempting pitifully to raise his body from the swamp, "before I change my mind and steal your face too!"

Obeying the spirit's words, Aang dashed off through the swamp to find the place where he had entered, holding the face of Le Jien tight to his chest.

* * *

Zuko was reluctant to let Iroh leave without him, feeling a responsibility as Fire Lord, but Iroh insisted that Zuko had seen enough action that night and needed his rest. Not wanting to leave should Aang return, he sat with his friends in a meditative position trying to rest. However, Sokka and Toph weren't making things easy.

"See, I told you he'd be alright," Toph commented casually to Sokka, referring to Aang.

"I'm pretty sure I was the one that told you he would be alright," Sokka explained, "but don't worry about it, I forget stuff like that too."

"You don't have to be embarrassed," Toph grinned, "I'm sure Katara will think its cute that you came to me crying, asking if Aang would be alright."

"What!" Sokka practically shouted, "that never happened! You were the one crying!"

"Right, I was the one crying," Toph laughed, "do you believe that Katara?"

"Hmm, what, of course not," Katara replied absently from where she sat.

"Katara!" Sokka exploded.

"Hmm, oh, sorry Sokka," Katara seemed to wake up, "will you guys excuse me a second?"

Rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, Sokka pouted while Toph grinned ear to ear. Toph took a special joy in playfully tormenting him like this. He really was her favorite person to be around, and, though she hardly even admitted it to herself, she always felt some attachment to him.

Toph and Sokka's silence seeming to indicate that Katara was excused. Getting up and setting Aang's head down gently, Katara tapped Zuko on shoulder to get his attention. Opening one eye, Zuko glared at her.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, not wanting to disturb the fire lord's rest but feeling the necessity to talk to him.

Sighing tiredly, Zuko got up and followed her a short distance away from Sokka and Toph's resumed arguing.

Stopping and letting out a long sigh, Katara spoke up, looking Zuko in the eyes, "I wanted to apologize to you for earlier. I shouldn't have blamed you for Aang's capture and I shouldn't have said those things to you."

"You don't have to apologize," Zuko replied quietly, meeting her gaze.

"It's just, I couldn't bear the thought of abandoning Aang," Katara continued, breaking eye contact to look at her feet and feeling the need to explain herself, "I was so afraid; I don't know what I'd do if something were to happen to him. He's my best friend."

"I know, I felt the same way." Zuko replied, staring at his own feet.

Looking up, Katara stared at Zuko as he continued, "What you said made think; I felt like I was betraying Aang after everything he's done for me by not racing to his rescue. I'm the one who needs to apologize, not you."

"I was glad to have your help," Katara smiled, changing the uncomfortable subject.

Zuko smiled weakly in return, unwilling to trouble Katara with the rest of his thoughts concerning Aang's rescue. She had changed his mind and he knew it was right to rescue Aang, but he still felt troubled.

He had failed to capture Tze and knew that the general would not give up his attempts to subdue him should he escape. It was his responsibility to take care of his enemies and the enemies of the Fire Nation. While Katara had helped him feel better as a friend to both her and the Avatar, he couldn't help but feel a disgrace as fire lord.

* * *

Running through the swamp, Aang finally came to the place where Wan Shi Tong had met him. It was round earthen platform, slightly raised above the swamp, with a dirt trail leading from it. Approaching it carefully, Aang wished he knew what to do.

Stepping onto the platform, the center of the dirt began to stir as if coming to life. What had appeared to be solid earth transformed into a swirling pool of water, white and shining compared to the murky swamp water.

Marveling at how one element transformed to the other but then remembering that the

Spirit World wasn't made up of any particular element at all, Aang looked into the water to see his body lying in the grand chamber of the Fire Palace surrounded by his friends. Holding up the mask of Le Jien for a moment and looking at its perpetually shocked expression, Aang took a deep breath and took a step into the pool.

As the pool began to swirl around his feet, Aang was suddenly assailed from behind as a body slammed into him. Wrapping all four of its arms around the Avatar and clawing for the mask, the figure pushed Aang forward causing both of them to lose balance. Falling, they disappeared into the glowing pool.

* * *

Aang's body suddenly jolted to life, flipping into the air as if the ground had spit him out. As Aang's spirit reentered his body, Le Jien's body came tumbling out of nowhere in the opposite direction as Aang. Acting quickly, Sokka leaped up to catch the Avatar by the arms. Looking over from across the room, Katara and Zuko bolted over to Aang's side.

The mask of Le Jien had been thrown into the air from Aang's hands. Landing at Toph's feet, the blind earth bender stooped down to pick up the mask, running her fingers across the ridges that made up Le Jien's face.

"Aang, are you alright?" Katara asked worriedly as she held him close, lowering him back to the ground.

"Fine," Aang managed to squeak out wearily.

Crawling on all sixes, Le Jien pulled himself to his feet, and rounding on Toph he growled, his voice emanating from his faceless head, "Give me the mask, I need the mask!"

"No, don't!" Aang shouted in panic, trying unsteadily to get to his feet only to be restrained by Katara, Zuko, and Sokka.

"Say please and I'll think about it," Toph said mockingly, heeding Aang's command and tightening her grip on the mask.

"Impudent child!" Le Jien roared, "you've brought upon yourself a torrent of air, earth, fire, and water!"

Flinging out all four of his arms, the Spirit Avatar pushed and pulled them through the air, whirling them in a pattern as he performed an elaborate bending of all four elements. To his horror, nothing happened.

"No," Le Jien's voice rang out from his being in angry surprise. Attempting again to attack the young earth bender, Le Jien franticly performed the bending attack again, shifting his arms as fast as he could manage. "My bending," Le Jien shouted at himself, horrified, "No!"

"Having trouble?" Toph said before bending the stone floor up with her hands, sending a wall of rock into the spirit.

Le Jien slammed back into the wall, lying in the rubble of Toph's attack. As Toph approached the spirit, followed by Sokka wielding his club, Le Jien suddenly rose to his feet throwing from his wide sleeves two of his batons.

Sokka quickly whipped out his boomerang and let it fly as Toph brought up a shield of rock to protect them. Le Jien had bolted for the door to escape, only to be tripped up by Sokka's boomerang. Stumbling, he leaped through the doorway just as Toph bent the stone up into a wall to try and block his escape.

Toph bent the wall back down as she and Sokka raced after Le Jien, followed by Zuko who had left Aang with Katara. Racing through the palace, they came to the entrance to witness Le Jien disappear in a cloud of smoke.

Still running forward, Sokka slashed through the smoke with his club.

"It was a diversion," Toph said, sensing the spirit was already gone through the earth, "he's already gone."

As the three of them caught their breaths, Sokka asked, "Who was that faceless guy anyway?"

"Le Jien, the Spirit Avatar," Aang answered gravely, walking up to his friends from the palace supported by Katara, "and he wants to kill me."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Reviewers, you are amazing, I really appreciate the encouragement :)

**Fun Fact:** Aang bringing Le Jien in to the mortal world accidentally through the pool of water was semi-inspired by the scene in C.S. Lewis' book "The Magicians Nephew" where Polly and Digory bring Jadis of Charn to London.


	8. Work Before Pleasure part 1

The sun rose brilliantly into the Fire Nation sky, streaming through the open window to fill Iroh's room with its radiance. As the light fell on the old man's face, he twitched into wakefulness. Yawning and stretching out his arms, he slipped from bed and tread over to the window.

"Another beautiful day," he commented with a smile as he beheld the morning view.

Below he could see his young friends gathered in the palace courtyard for breakfast. A low table had been set up for everyone to sit around and even Sokka was up and awake for the meal. Appa lay in front of a huge pile of hay nearby, munching away contentedly while Momo could be seen scurrying around the table, anticipating the meal.

Breathing in the morning air, Iroh's expression suddenly become alert, "Mmm, that smells delicious!"

Running back across his room, he swept off his nightwear as he grabbed a towel and entered his bathing room. Steam billowed out the door as he reopened it, having finished his quick bath. Clad in only a towel, the Dragon of the West scampered over to the dressing screen wear his clothes were hanging. He was dressed in only a moment and rushed from his room.

"Good morning," Jee greeted, wearing his new commanders uniform and raising a hand to stop him.

"Morning Jee, sorry can't talk, they're serving my favorite!" replied Iroh as he rushed by through the palace corridor.

"Tell the Fire Lord that the generals have called for a meeting later today!" Jee shouted after him.

"I will," came Iroh's response as he rounded a corner.

Jee stood for a moment and shook his head with a smile as he continued on his way.

* * *

Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph all sat around the table as the palace servants decked it with their morning meal: roast duck, a type of porridge, an assortment of fruit, and a special tea Iroh had taught Toph how to make. Momo ran around on the table excitedly, inspecting each entrée is it was set down, much to the annoyance of the servants.

Swiping Momo from the table, Sokka held him up for a moment chiding the lemur, "Bad Momo, this is Sokka food, why don't you eat some hay like Appa?"

Momo only blinked in response and then turned to reach for a piece of fruit.

"Alright, fine," Sokka said, setting down the lemur and taking the fruit in his hand, "catch!"

Tossing the fruit away from the table, Sokka watched as Momo bolted after it. Swooping down on it, Momo was shocked to find that a turtle duckling had rushed from the pond to inspect the fruit.

Landing next to the duckling, Momo hastily grabbed the fruit and held it above his head, screeching angrily. The duckling let out a loud quack and hopped up to get the fruit, but Momo kept it out of reach. The lemur let out a victorious chirp as he took a bite out of the prize.

Giving up its attempts to get the fruit, the turtle duckling let out a harsh squawk and bit Momo's tail.

Shrieking in surprise, Momo dropped the fruit and was off his feet and flapping around frantically trying to get away. The turtle duck remained firmly clamped on the lemur's tail as it became airborne.

Fire Lord Zuko had emerged from the palace, clearly not in the best of moods, and approached the table where his friends sat. Suddenly, the turtle duckling hanging from Momo's tail banged into his head as Momo flew around wildly.

Growling in annoyance, Zuko reach out to grab the lemur with one hand and the turtle duck with the other. Scowling at Momo, Zuko stroked the turtle duckling's head with a finger, convincing it to let go of Momo's tail, much to the lemur's relief.

Setting the turtle duck down gently, Zuko continued over to the table as Momo climbed up his sleeve to perch on his shoulder. Glaring back at the turtle duckling who looked back innocently, Momo hissed and trilled angrily over his lost fruit.

* * *

"Roast duck," said Iroh cheerily as he took a seat between Toph and Sokka, filling his plate, "the perfect breakfast."

"That's what you said about yesterday's dinner," complained Toph, poking at her food with her chopsticks and then giving her best Iroh impression, "roast duck, the perfect dinner!"

"Well it's true, nothing beats roast duck," Sokka said, biting purposefully into his food, "unless it's an assortment of roast duck and other meats."

"I hope that's not roast turtle duck," Katara said, shooing away the little turtle duckling that had wandered over looking for more food.

Momo eyed the turtle duckling warily from where he sat next to Aang, eating away at some fruit.

Sokka grinned through a mouthful across the table at his sister, "Tasty little things aren't they?"

Katara grimaced as she looked at Sokka with disgust. Sokka kept chewing dramatically, grinning evilly at his sister.

"I think I'll just have porridge then," she said sickly, pushing away her plate and taking a bowl.

"Nothing like turtle duckling porridge to start the day," grinned Toph from her seat, slurping loudly then coughing and pulling something from her mouth, "just watch out for pieces of shell."

Thoroughly horrified, Katara pushed her bowl away and took up a cup, "I'll just have tea then."

Before Iroh could say anything, Katara slammed her cup down, "Please, don't tell me the tea comes from essence of turtle duck!"

"Actually," chuckled Iroh, "I was going to say that this tea is absolutely fabulous."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Katara picked up her cup again, taking a long sip.

"It better be," Toph snickered from beside Iroh, "I spent all morning rounding up the turtle ducks so I could make it."

Coughing and sputtering suddenly, Katara set her teacup down. Searching the table, she brightened up and picked up a peach, "Fruit, that's what I'll eat!"

"You got us there," Sokka laughed after gulping down a mouthful, "there's no turtle ducks in fruit!"

Grinning with triumph at her brother, Katara declared, "Katara; one, Sokka and Toph; zero."

Shaking with mirth, Iroh continued where he left off, "I wasn't joking about this tea Toph; it is some of the best I've ever had."

"Well I did learn from the best," Toph grinned up at him before taking a sip herself.

"What do you think Zuko, Aang," Iroh said, directing his attention to the two boys who hadn't said a word all morning, "don't you think Toph could open her own teashop?"

Zuko grunted in response to his uncle's question and Aang gave a fake chuckle and replied absently without looking up, "Yeah, that would be great."

Zuko and Aang had been like this for days, both severely troubled by recent events. Iroh's grin dwindled as he looked at them, hating seeing his nephew and young friend so troubled.

Iroh was considering what words of comfort he could offer when he quickly cheered up as Mai and Ty Lee approached from the palace.

"Mai, Ty Lee, I'm glad you could join us this morning. Have you thought about our offer to enlist you as part of the Fire Lord's personal guard?"

"Our parents said it would be a super idea," said Ty Lee cheerfully, then adding as she took a seat next to Zuko, "they thinks it's so much more respectable than the circus."

"Anything to bring more honor to the family," droned Mai as she sat down next to Ty Lee.

"Excellent," Iroh said after taking a sip of tea, "we could definitely use you around here."

"No kidding, after we're gone you'll need all the help you can get," Sokka said between mouthfuls.

"You're still planning on leaving?" asked Zuko suddenly, breaking his silent train of thought.

"You know we were planning on leaving days ago. We only stayed longer to help out around the palace and track down Tze's rebels. Since most of the danger seems to be over with we were planning on leaving tonight," Katara explained.

Zuko slammed his fist on the table, blurting out, "Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? Tze is still out there! We haven't caught him yet and you're just going to leave?"

Startled by Zuko's outburst and sensing trouble, Momo glided from the table over to Appa, chirping at the bison after landing on his head. Appa grunted in response, disregarding his hay and watching the breakfasters closely.

"Le Jien is out there too," Aang added quietly, reaching back a moment to make sure the mask of the spirits face still sat securely in the bag he wore on his back. Since retrieving the face from Toph, Aang had kept it at his side at all times.

"Guys, they're gone; they've completely disappeared," Katara offered, trying to cheer her friends up but only succeeding in making things worse.

"Katara's right," Sokka said thoughtfully after swallowing a mouthful, "we haven't seen either of them, but that doesn't mean Tze wont try to take the thrown again, and I think its safe to say Le Jien will return to hunt Aang down."

"Us leaving will be doing you a favor," Toph reasoned to Zuko, "if Aang leaves, Le Jien leaves too."

"But where can we take him? I'm not leading him to the Southern Water Tribe!" Aang shouted, jumping to his feet. It was the most he had said in days.

"Aang, it'll be fine," Katara said from beside him, coaxing him to sit back down. Aang did so without comment, resuming his downcast expression.

"You'll be safer in the Southern Water Tribe," Sokka tried to reassure Aang, "you won't have to worry about Tze and the problems here in the Fire Nation."

Zuko took this opportunity to get to the matter at hand in a stressed tone, "But what are we going to do about Tze and his rebels?"

"What we've been doing," Iroh said seriously, "continue patrolling the cities, putting up wanted posters, and sending regiments throughout the Fire Nation to stop them."

"What if that isn't enough," Zuko said angrily, "what if Tze returns right under our noses again? I've failed twice to capture him; he's too smart to let himself be caught so easily."

"Zuko, trust Iroh," Katara leaned over the table to face him, "you know he wants to end this as much as you do."

Sighing heavily, Zuko stared at the table as he continued to debate the subject wordlessly with himself.

The group of friends continued eating without further conversation. Mai and Ty Lee exchanged looks, wishing they hadn't joined the group for breakfast if only to prevent the argument that just took place.

* * *

"Well," Toph finally broke the silence, "we should probably begin today's work."

"But I'm not done eating!" Sokka and Iroh blurted out in unison.

The table was completely empty of food except for Iroh and Sokka's plates. Bending the ground beneath the table, Toph tilted it so that all the plates, including Sokka's and Iroh's, slid off to land in a pile at the end. Momo promptly scampered over to inspect the discarded food.

"Finished?" Toph smiled sweetly.

"Yes," Sokka sighed sadly.

Iroh patted him on the shoulder miserably, "It's a shame that such an appreciator of tea could have such disrespect for breakfast."

"So Meathead, who's going where today?" Toph questioned Sokka, getting straight to the point and giving him little time to mourn for his lost food.

Laying his map of the Fire Capital and nearby countryside out on the table, Sokka spoke deliberately, "Zuko's soldiers have patrolled most of these areas and marked them clear, but these here," he motioned with his finger, "have been reported as possible problem areas. It's our job to find any troublemakers. Nothing too serious. We'll be splitting into three groups and patrolling these areas. Sound good Zuko?"

Zuko nodded as everyone got up from their seat, "That should work fine. I'll head one group, you can take the next, uncle can take the third."

"I think it would be best for you to stay here at the palace," Iroh interrupted, "the generals have requested a meeting with you and there are other things to take care of."

"They can meet with themselves," Zuko said bitterly, "I'm not going to stay in the palace while my enemy is in the streets."

"Zuko, you must do this, it is the Fire Lord's responsibility," Iroh chided sternly.

Zuko frustration reached epitome as he took a step toward his uncle shouting, "I'm not going to stay in the palace the last day the Avatar is here! Tze has already complicated things enough, I don't need you to tell me to stay away from my friends!"

Iroh met Zuko's angry glare, stating authoritatively, "I suggest you cool down before your meeting, Fire Lord Zuko."

Zuko glared at Iroh, then looked to his friends for support. They only looked back at him, surprised by his sudden burst anger. Even Toph looked shaken by his tone of voice. Zuko turned in frustration and stomped into the palace wordlessly.

"Yikes," Sokka said, getting an elbow in the stomach from Katara and a shove from Toph knocking him to the ground.

"Ow, hey!" he cried from where he fell.

"You must excuse him," Iroh said, turning to them, "he's had a lot to worry about lately."

"It's alright," Katara replied understandingly, "he's just upset that we'll be leaving tonight."

"Leaving or not," Sokka picked himself up, "we still have responsibilities to take care of."

"Right, me and Iroh will take Appa to the north village," Toph stated, linking arms with the old firebender.

"Aang and I will take the west side of the Fire Capital," Katara said as Momo flew over to land on her shoulder. Smiling, she scratched him between the ears adding, "Momo too."

"I guess we'll take the south village," Mai said with boredom.

"And you can come with us," Ty Lee grinned, pulling Sokka over to where she and Mai stood.

Struggling to get away, Sokka pushed himself between Iroh and Toph, "I think it would be best if I went with you guys."

"Suit yourself," Mai said, pulling a dagger from her sleeve and pretending to aim at him. Ty Lee giggled and Sokka gulped from behind Iroh and Toph.

"Okay, everything is settled, lets not waste anymore time talking!" Sokka raced through his words, hoping to get away from the crazy acrobat and her knife-wielding friend.

Iroh and Toph made there way over to Appa while Sokka moved along, keeping Iroh between Mai and himself.

"Ready to go Furrball?" Toph said, reaching out to pat the bison's nose.

Appa's eyes widened as Iroh stepped beside Toph, groaning in alarm.

"It's good to see you again too!" Iroh said cheerily, misinterpreting the bison as he heaved himself aboard.

Appa was used to the weight of Aang and his friends, even holding up with Zuko's extra weight, but Iroh had proved himself to be the bison's least favorite passenger to carry. Not that it was the old fire benders fault; too many years of roast duck does that to you.

Helping Toph and Sokka aboard, Sokka took the reins saying to Katara and Aang, "We'll be back tonight, you guys be careful."

"We will," Katara waved back to him.

With a quick 'yip yip', Sokka, Iroh and Toph were gone into the sky.

* * *

Fire Lord Zuko stormed into his personal chamber in a rage. Wall lanterns and candles flared up with intensity as he strode across the room, slamming his flaming fist against the wall. The wall hanging bearing the symbol of the Fire Nation incinerated under his fiery punch. Ripping the golden crown from his hair, he threw it across the room. It quivered in the door, landing point first like a blade. Immediately there came a knock at the door.

"What!" Zuko shouted at the knocker.

"Sir," Jee said, eying the crown embedded in the door as he entered, "the generals are waiting for you."

Zuko's silence prompted Jee to recover the crown from the door and return it to the Fire Lord.

Calming himself down with silence and exploring the crown with his fingers, Zuko asked without looking up, "Jee, tell me something."

"Anything, sir."

"Have you ever been free?"

"Sir?"

Looking up from the crown to face him, Zuko asked again, "Have you ever been free; free of all responsibilities and pressures?"

Looking at Zuko strangely, Jee responded thoughtfully, "I suppose when I was a kid, before I joined the military."

"And when was that?" Zuko asked, looking back down at the crown.

"I was nineteen sir," Jee replied, unsure of what to make of Zuko's sudden wish to play twenty questions.

Sighing, Zuko returned the crown to his head, then facing Jee and explaining, "During my years in exile, there were two things that kept me going: the hope that my father would love me again and the wish to inherit his throne. I've gave up on the first and I've come to realize that I do not want the second."

Jee looked at him, unsure what to say, allowing Zuko to continue, "The short time I spent with the Avatar and his friends, my friends, was the happiest time in my life. I don't want it to end. Look at me, I'm sixteen and already I'm the Fire Lord! I don't want this; I can't handle this."

"Sir, if you don't mind my saying, " Jee said, clasping Zuko's arm, "I can think of no other sixteen year old more capable of being Fire Lord than yourself."

Zuko clasped Jee's arm in the warriors embrace, grinning with mock confidence, "I appreciate encouragement. Now where are those pesky Generals?"


	9. Work Before Pleasure part 2

Aang and Katara walked through the streets of the Fire Capital along their designated patrol route. It was considerably less crowded than their previous visit, though people still moved about with their business. They witnessed nothing even remotely suspicious and the day thus far had been quiet. Too quiet for Katara's liking.

Aang's silence frustrated her. She had tried talking with him several times over the past few days but he had only distanced himself from her each time. She had helped him through his troubles in the past and felt determined to cheer him up once again.

"Aang, take a look at this!" she said excitedly, pulling Aang over to the boutique she had been inspecting, hoping to get at least a laugh out of him.

Momo sat on the counter dressed in gaudy Fire Nation silks, wearing shiny pieces of jewelry and a woman's bracelet for a crown. Chirping elegantly, the lemur made as if to bow to the Avatar.

"That's great Katara," Aang said, barely chuckling, before turning back to the street.

Sighing in defeat as Aang left the shop, Katara undressed Momo and allowed the lemur to perch on her shoulder as she left.

"Ahem," the shopkeeper stopped them, pointing at the lemur.

Momo had kept a piece of jewelry concealed in his hands, hoping to keep the shiny treasure.

"No Momo," Katara said, holding out her hand expectantly.

Momo regretfully dropped his prize into her hand, ears bent back dejectedly. The shopkeeper snatched it from Katara angrily and turned back to managing her shop. Rolling her eyes at the shopkeeper's attitude, Katara exited the shop and ran to catch up with Aang who had continued down the street.

"Aang, talk to me," she begged as she slowed her pace to walk beside him, "I can't stand seeing you like this."

"Katara, I can't, I—" Aang started.

"No more excuses," Katara demanded quietly, "Please, just tell me."

Letting out a long sigh, Aang began, "I've brought evil into the world when it was so close to peace. Le Jien; he's going to ruin everything and it's my fault."

"Its not your fault," Katara interrupted tenderly, reaching out to comfort Aang.

Aang brushed her hand away saying, "You don't understand. He was imprisoned and I set him free."

"Why would you do that?" Katara asked, looking hurt and returning her hand to her side.

"Because I was tricked!" Aang roared furiously, bending the elements around him in a sudden loss of self-control. The earth below jumped under their feet, the air twisted like a tornado around them, and water formed into droplets in the whirlwind as fire trickled from the Avatar's fingertips to join the water.

Katara looked about in fright, losing her balance as the earth shook. Momo screeched in terror and took to the air, barely able to escape the cyclone of air. As suddenly as the display of bending began, it vanished without a trace.

"I'm sorry," Aang apologized quietly, then looking up at Katara sorrowfully, "I didn't mean to snap at you like that. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she managed in a strangled voice, hugging him close with tears escaping her tightly closed eyes as she did so, "I'm just worried about you."

"Katara, I'm fine," Aang said seriously as he returned her embrace, "I've just been going through a lot lately."

"And look what its doing to you," she held him at arms length, "your not yourself anymore."

"What do you want me to do?" Aang questioned, "I can't just decide to be happy and cheerful when I've got so much to worry about."

"I want you to tell me what's going on and I want you to trust that everything will be alright."

Aang met Katara's gaze, her eyes pleading with him. He gave a weak smile; only Katara could do that to him. He could try for her.

"Alright."

* * *

Having left Appa to sleep under a tree outside of town, Iroh, Toph, and Sokka walked along their patrol route. It was midday and nothing unexpected had happened. Of course, this didn't stop Sokka from questioning every single person in the streets, letting no one escape his scrutiny.

"You there, just where were you during the signing of the treaty between nations," he pointed at an elderly woman suspiciously.

The old woman gave Sokka a toothy grin, enhanced by the fact that she was missing several teeth.

"Give it a rest Sokka," Toph called from beside Iroh as they walked past, "You've questioned everyone you've seen so far and no one has any idea what you're talking about."

"Don't you understand, that's what they want you to think!" Sokka yelled back, then returning his attention to the old woman, "I've got my eye on you, don't even think about leaving town." The old woman held her grin, unmoved by Sokka's eccentrics.

As Sokka continued to avidly question the people in the street, running back and forth across Iroh and Toph's path, the blind earthbender and old firebender calmly enjoyed their walk through town in the afternoon sun.

"He seems very excited about patrol duty," Iroh commented as he watched the Water Tribesman.

"Sokka just loves getting to the bottom of things," Toph said, purposefully bending the earth up and tripping Sokka.

"Ow, Toph!" Sokka shouted before getting up and dashing off to question a little boy.

"He's pretty good at this kind of thing though," Toph continued, "I'd never tell him that, of course."

"Your secret is safe with me" Iroh grinned.

As they continued walking, Iroh said hesitantly, "Toph, I've been thinking, you don't think I was too harsh with Zuko do you?"

"What do you mean?" Toph asked, sensing her old friend's seriousness.

Sighing, Iroh explained, "He really wanted to be around you all before you left and I was a bit angry with him about neglecting his responsibilities."

"I don't blame him; when my parents told me I couldn't leave to teach Aang earthbending, I felt horrible," Toph replied, feeling a greater sense of empathy towards Zuko.

"I feel like I've pushed him into being Fire Lord," Iroh continued gravely, "He was as thrilled as I was as first, but it has become increasingly clear that he does not want this."

"Who can blame him," Toph said seriously, "All the rules, regulations, and responsibilities? No thanks."

The conversation between the two ended when Sokka walked up to them saying dejectedly, "Nothing, absolutely nothing," then letting out a frustrated yell into the sky, "Doesn't anyone know anything around here!"

"Both of you need to relax," Toph grinned, putting an arm around both Iroh and Sokka, "What we need is a quick lunch break, or better yet, a tea break."

Iroh immediately brightened up, but Sokka looked just as miserable.

"Tea tea tea, now I know why Zuko hates the stuff so much," he said glumly as Iroh led the way to a nearby teashop.

* * *

Ty Lee stared at the ground as she trudged along the patrol route, acting unusually gloomy and appearing deep in thought. Mai walked beside her, extremely board with 'patrol duty' already and paying little attention to her friend's glum expression.

"Why do they treat us like that, like we're still their enemies?" Ty Lee finally broke the silence, looking up from the ground to face Mai, "We helped them take down the Fire Lord, what's their problem?"

Despite the casualness of their relationship with the Avatar and his group, it was evident that Mai and Ty lee had yet to be accepted as part of the team. Zuko and Iroh had warmed to the two much more readily than anyone else, understanding the pressure put on them from Azula, and were on much better terms with them. Despite everything they had been through together, the rest of the group still felt a little uncomfortable around the two would-be accomplices for the former princess.

"They still don't trust us," Mai sighed blankly without taking her gaze from the road ahead.

"Zuko trusts us, Iroh trusts us, why can't they?" Ty Lee said in a frustrated tone as they continued walking.

"Hmm, Zuko trusts us," Mai repeated absently.

Ty Lee smirked evilly, seeing the opportunity to get at Mai, "Yeah, Zuko trusts you."

"Shut up," Mai said, waking up mentally and looking at Ty Lee crossly, "I told you to stop that."

"I knew it! You do still like him," Ty Lee practically danced with glee.

"That was a long time ago," Mai blushed despite being upset, "just drop it, okay?"

"Fine," Ty Lee said, kicking a stone up from the road. She began juggling the stone for a moment with her feet before giving it a hard kick, sending it sailing over the rooftops of the town.

"So how about you and that Water Tribe guy?" Mai said, changing the subject to something she knew would get back at Ty Lee for bringing up Zuko.

"Don't remind me," Ty Lee said grumpily as she kicked up another stone, "he hates me and so do his friends."

Mai sighed, already sorry that she brought up the subject, and then attempted to offer some words of comfort, "What can you expect, we hunted them down with Azula, helped take over Ba Sing Se, and," she hesitated a moment, then finished, "killed the Kyoshi Warriors."

Ty Lee nodded regretfully, "I know."

"You remember what it was like when we first joined them," Mai said, bringing back the memories.

* * *

"You've got a lot of nerve coming here!" Sokka roared, pinning the frightened Ty Lee to a tree, "Suki barely survived but I can't say the same for the other Kyoshi warriors!"

"I'm sorry," Ty Lee sobbed, tears streaming down her face, "we didn't mean it, we didn't want—"

"Didn't mean it?" Sokka cried unbelievably, raising his blade in anger. Zuko's hand caught his arm, restraining the warrior.

"Sokka don't," Zuko said harshly, "Azula betrayed them. They don't mean us any harm. We need to give them a chance."

Sokka shook Zuko's hand off, glaring at the prince.

Aang interrupted their quarrel, "Zuko's right," he said as he let go of his hold on Mai and forcefully pushed her to where Ty Lee stood, "we need to give them a chance."

"Aang you can't be serious," Sokka shouted, pushing Zuko aside to approach the Avatar.

Aang glared at his two former enemies. Azula had left them for dead and upon hearing that they still lived, fearing any malice they might show towards her, declared them traitors to the Fire Nation. They had been living the life of refugees since then, evident from their torn clothing and dirty faces.

"I don't know if I can forgive them either," Aang said, "but Azula betrayed them and they came to us for help. We need to give them a chance."

* * *

"I don't think they're ready to forgive us," Mai finished, blinking sorrowfully.

"This is all Azula's fault," Ty Lee said sadly as she stopped walking, "she's always ruined everything."

Mai stopped beside her, "At least she's gone now."

"But for how long," Ty Lee looked at Mai uncertainly.

"If she comes back we'll stop her, with or without the Avatar."

Ty Lee brushed her tears aside as she hugged Mai. Mai, who usually shunned from Ty Lee's jubilant hugging, brought her arms up to return the gesture.

"At least we still have each other," Ty Lee said over Mai's shoulder, then giggling past her tears, "and Zuko."

Mai abruptly pushed the laughing Ty Lee away from her, rolling her eyes but unable to prevent the smile that creased her lips.

* * *

Continuing with their patrol through the streets, Aang, feeling slightly better, explained himself to Katara.

"I was given the responsibility to keep Le Jien's face, to protect it from him," he began, handing her his staff for a moment and pulling the mask of Le Jien from his bag.

Katara examined the face as Aang held it. Its silver skin glittered in the sunlight and the black eyes appeared alive as they reflected the sunlight. But it remained cold and unmoving, transfixed in its pained expression.

"Le Jien is the Spirit Avatar," Aang continued, "the first of all the Avatars."

"But there can only be one Avatar," Katara stated hesitantly, "how can you both exist at once?"

Aang nodded, "That's why he wants to kill me."

Wincing, Katara questioned, "So he can bend all four elements?"

"Well, not anymore," Aang said, holding up the mask, "I don't think he can bend at all without his face."

"Well that's good news for us," Katara gave a half grin.

Nodding, Aang finished as he returned the mask to his bag, "It's my job to defeat Le Jien. I don't know how, but I have to one way or another."

"You don't have to face this alone," Katara smiled, "Sokka, Toph, and I will be with you every step of the way."

"I know," he returned the smile, "I couldn't ask for better friends to stand at my side."

"You're not the carefree little guy I met in the South Pole or the hardened Avatar who wanted to take on the Fire Nation alone; you've grown up," Katara grinned, then looked about suddenly, "Now where's Momo gone off to?"

"About time you noticed," Aang mumbled as Katara walked out of earshot to search for Momo.

It was frustrating that Katara had never seen him as more than a dear friend. Aang loved her in a way beyond friendship, but she had remained oblivious despite all the times he tried to tell her. Even after being warned that his love for her would be his downfall, he had refused to give up his affections.

First the Guru warned him, telling him that unless he let his earthly attachment to Katara go, he would never be able to master the Avatar State. Aang had ignored the Guru, and the consequence was that although the Avatar cycle remained intact, he could no longer connect to his past lives and access the Avatar State.

Koh had given him his second warning during their second meeting in the spirit world. The Face Stealer told him that the Avatar was not to indulge in the romantic love that Aang sought, repeating the story of Avatar Kuruk as example. Koh made it clear that if Aang allowed his responsibilities to be compromised by his physical attachment, there would be dire consequences.

But it was so hard to let go of someone like that, and despite all his efforts Aang felt unable to relinquish his secret feelings for Katara.

Before Aang could give the subject more thought, Katara returned saying, "I can't find that little guy anywhere."

Announced by a loud shriek, Momo came scampering up the street, holding a vegetable and chattering loudly as he ran up to Katara and Aang, bounding up the Avatar's body to hide behind his head.

"What is it Momo?" Aang questioned amusedly, "find something good to eat?"

"Oh, no," Katara said under her breath as a familiar face stomped up to them.

"You two!" he shouted in rage, "I should have known! You better be able to pay for that! Your little…animal…has destroyed a perfectly good cabbage!"

"Heh heh, sorry," Aang said, holding his hands up disarmingly and then turning out his empty pockets.

Scowling angrily, the cabbage merchant pointed at Katara, "What about you, no money either I suppose?"

"Here you go sir," Katara said respectfully, handing him a bag of gold coins, "I think this will cover all of the cabbages we've ever ruined."

"Hardly," the merchant said, snatching the coins away and testing the weight of the bag, muttering as he walked away, "Kids these days, absolutely no respect for cabbages."

Aang looked at Katara questioningly, but she quickly answered, "Iroh gave us some money. He said we should try to enjoy ourselves a little."

"I wish," Aang sighed as they resumed their patrol.

* * *

"Nothing like tea to rejuvenate the muscles and invigorate the mind," Iroh said cheerily as Toph, Sokka and himself trooped out of the teashop.

"I'm still hungry," Sokka complained, "Tea is barely a substitute for real food."

"You're always hungry," Toph shot back, then adding smugly and gesturing to Iroh and herself, "You just can't appreciate the finer things in life like we can."

"What I can appreciate is finding some rebel soldiers and making this patrol worthwhile," Sokka said, ignoring Toph's insult, "where should we check out next?"

As if answering him, the teashop behind them erupted into flames and debris shot out the windows and open doorway in the sudden explosion.

"This way, they're around back!" Toph shouted as she took off for the alleyway, sensing the enemy with her feet.

Sokka and Iroh were right behind her, skidding around the entrance to the alley and pursuing the bombers. Toph stopped suddenly to take her bending stance, and bringing her hands up she built a wall in front of the fleeing rebels. Suddenly trapped, the men turned to face the trio, spreading out a assuming their own bending stances.

"Going somewhere?" Toph laughed confidently, sensing the fear in each of the rebel soldiers.

Having few options, a pair of the rebels shot their hands forward, sending streams of fire forward toward Toph. Iroh quickly pushed Toph aside to catch the flames. The fire between Iroh and the two soldiers swam back and forth, but Iroh clearly had the advantage. Another soldier joined the fray, giving balance to the fire that filled the air.

Toph focused on a pair of rebels coming from the side as Sokka quickly threw his boomerang to help Iroh, knocking one of the helmeted soldiers across the head.

Sokka's removal of the one soldier allowed Iroh to overpower the two remaining benders, but in the sudden change in the balance of power, flames flew forth uncontrolled catching Toph in the back. Crying out in pain, Toph fell to the ground.

"Toph!" Sokka cried as he caught his boomerang on the return flight.

Jumping over a fallen rebel, Sokka made quick work of the two soldiers that she had been fighting, dealing them each smart blows to the head and back.

"Toph, are you alright?" Sokka said, helping the girl onto her feet.

"I'm fine," Toph stated, pushing him away in annoyance, "I don't need help."

To her surprise Sokka suddenly screamed, receiving a fiery blast to the arm. Collapsing against a wall, he sat holding his arm tensely.

"Sokka, I didn't mean it!" Toph was suddenly on her knees next to him, "I couldn't see the fire! It's not like the earth, I couldn't sense it with my feet, I—"

"It's fine, Toph," Sokka winced through a pained smile, trying to sound reassuring, "I'm fine."

Meanwhile, the Dragon of the West had been dealing with the remaining rebel soldiers. Bending fire primarily as a means for distraction, Iroh took out his opponents sometimes two at a time with quick swipes of his palms.

One soldier quickly recoiled to the side as Iroh breathed fire in front of him, only to be caught by swift side chop. Knocking heads together and rendering them unconscious, Iroh made quick work of the soldiers. The final remaining fire bender backed up as Iroh grinned wryly.

"Attempting to assassinate the fire lord's uncle and most trusted general; dishonorable," Iroh said as he shook his head, "But destroying a teashop in the process; unforgivable."

The fire bender continued backing up, holding his hands up to defend himself. Sokka's club came down on the soldier's head from behind, dropping the shocked man to the ground.

Standing with his wounded arm at his side with club in hand, good arm holding his burnt skin tensely, Sokka grinned painfully at Iroh. Toph stood at Sokka's side, feeling utterly responsible for Sokka's burn and looking sick.

Walking past the fallen soldiers, Iroh hugged Toph with one arm and put the other around Sokka's shoulder.

"You both fought bravely. Let's get these scoundrels taken care of and get you back to the Fire Capital so Katara can take care of your burns."

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note: **Yeah, I know, patrol duty is lame and this probably can't even be considered patrol duty; it's just them walking down the street. Hopefully no one cares too much; the characters had to be doing something while I got the lengthy dialogue out of the way and this was about as good as anything else I could come up with :)


	10. Work Before Pleasure part 3

Sokka sat on a cushion in one of the many rooms of the Fire Palace as Katara knelt next to him healing his burns with her water covered hands. Under the intense glow of the liquid, the burns that covered Sokka's arm vanished.

"There you go, good as new," Katara smiled as she retracted the water from her hands to her water skin.

"Thanks little sister," Sokka said as he rubbed his arm, then stretched it experimentally. Finding it to his satisfaction, he reached over to give Katara a side ward hug, saying, "I don't know what we'd do without you."

"I don't know what you'd do either," Katara grinned, then became more serious, "You two should really be more careful. Are you doing alright, Toph?"

"Are you kidding Suger Queen," Toph sighed with boredom from where she lounged nearby, "that scrap was the highlight of my day."

"Well I'm glad you guys had fun," Katara said as she stood up, "Things were pretty uneventful for Aang and I."

"That's a good sign," Sokka concluded as he stood up too, "with rebel attacks going down, Zuko should have no problem after we leave."

"Speaking of Zuko, I'm going to go see how he's doing. He was pretty disappointed about having to stay behind this morning," Katara said, walking off but turning back for a moment, "Iroh mentioned that dinner would be ready soon, so don't wander far."

"Don't worry about the bottomless stomach here," Toph said as she got to her feet and gestured to Sokka, "You couldn't keep him away from dinner if you tried."

"Hey, a man's gotta eat," Sokka shrugged sheepishly.

Laughing to herself, Katara turned and continued on her way.

As Sokka moved to take the exit on the opposite side of the room, Toph stopped him saying, "Look, Sokka, I don't normally do this, but I want to apologize for earlier."

"Wow, really? An apology from you?" Sokka said with good-natured sarcasm, "I didn't think that was possible."

"Well don't get used to it," Toph shot back, poking Sokka in the chest, "Anyway, I'm sorry for pushing you into the flames back there."

"Apology accepted," Sokka said, taking a comical bow.

Toph's arm shot out, making contact with Sokka's forehead and pushing him back to his upright position.

"Apology aside, I was serious when I said I was fine," she growled with annoyance, "I don't need to be picked up and put back on my feet every time I'm knocked over in battle."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Sokka replied quickly, not eager to argue with Toph, "but I'll try not to care next time."

"You care about something besides food?" Toph inquired skeptically.

"Hey, I may appreciate food more than most people, but sarcasm aside I can be straight-talk Sokka too," he explained, putting an arm around Toph's shoulder, "I know you can handle yourself in battle, the fight against the fire lord was proof enough, but everyone needs someone to guard their back sometimes."

Blushing from Sokka's touch and smiling uncomfortably, Toph averted her blind gaze to the floor saying, "Sokka, there's been something I've been meaning to tell you, I—"

"Sokka?" Ty Lee's voice interrupted quietly from behind them.

Sokka whirled around on Ty Lee, startling Toph as much as it did the nervously smiling acrobat, "For the last time, I'm not interested!"

Still smiling timidly, Ty Lee replied uneasily, "I know…I just…can we talk a minute?"

Sokka maintained his annoyed glare while Toph stood behind him unmoving.

"Privately?" Ty Lee ventured.

Turning, Sokka said, "Sorry Toph, we'll talk more later."

As Sokka, looking considerably put off, and Ty Lee, still smiling apprehensively, moved off to another part of the Fire Palace, Toph blew the hair out of her unseeing eyes in annoyance, muttering sarcastically, "No problem Sokka, I'll wait right here," before stocking off in the opposite direction.

* * *

The sun hung low in the sky as Zuko leaned on the stone railing of a balcony, staring out over the Fire Capital absently.

"Hey Zuko," Aang said as he leaned against the railing next to him.

"Hey," Zuko replied, turning his attention to the Avatar, "How was the patrol?"

"Pretty boring," Aang shrugged, "Toph, Iroh and Sokka ran into some trouble though."

"Uncle told me," Zuko said, returning his attention to the landscape, "He said it was a pitiful assassination attempt organized by a group of tea haters possibly connected to Tze."

"I wish we could stay and help you find Tze," Aang replied, putting a hand on the bag at his side that held the face of Le Jien.

"It's fine," Zuko said calmly, "Katara and Sokka want to go home and see their dad, I can understand that. I'll be able to take care of things without you guys. You have your duties and I have mine."

Aang nodded, then turned around to lean his back against the railing and asking, "How was your meeting with the generals?"

"Huh," Zuko snorted, "Nothing unexpected. Despite our success with subduing the rebels, they don't like the way I've handled it. They blame me for Tze's disappearance."

Sighing, Zuko continued, "When I was younger I used to dream about being the Fire Lord. I never thought it would be like this."

"I know what its like, all the responsibility" Aang replied, looking distant, "I didn't ask to be the Avatar; I was just a kid when they told me and all I wanted was to be like everyone else. I've learned to accept who I am, but it's so hard to deal with when the fate of the world is constantly being pushed into my hands."

As Aang finished, he withdrew the mask from his bag. Zuko glanced down at the face of Le Jien, concentrating on the features before returning to look face to face with Aang.

"I wish I could come with you," he said, "I'd give up the throne if I could, just to be a part of Team Avatar again."

"It won't be the same without you," Aang replied as he returned to the mask to his bag, looking as remorseful as the fire lord.

Just then, Momo flew up to the balcony, landing on the railing and interrupting the two boys with a loud chirp.

"Hey Momo," Aang said as Zuko reached out to pet the lemur.

Taking to the air again, Momo landed on Zuko's head, one of his favorite perches. Pricking himself on the Fire Lord's crown as he landed, Momo let out a loud screech and pulled the crown from Zuko's hair and threw it on the ground, then resettled on Zuko's head.

Aang and Zuko looked at the golden crown lying on the ground, then at each other and couldn't help the fits of laughter that erupted. Momo went wide eyed with annoyance, struggling to keep his balance on the Fire Lord's head as Zuko bent over to pick up the crown, chuckling as he did so.

"There you guys are," Katara said as she approached them from inside the palace, "I've been looking all over for you."

Grinning to see her two friends in high spirits, Katara continued, "I'm glad you two are feeling better. I came up here to tell you that dinner is about ready."

"Please say Uncle has something besides roast duck planned," Zuko inquired in a hopeful tone as he removed Momo from his head and handed the pesky lemur to the still grinning Aang.

"It'll be good whatever it is, he's been in the kitchens since we got back," Katara replied, ushering the Avatar and Fire Lord back into the palace.

* * *

"Alright, now what's this about," Sokka said, stopping in his tracks. Ty Lee had led him to a deserted hallway in the Fire Palace and he was more than suspicious of her intent.

"I just wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting," Ty Lee smiled awkwardly.

"Do you always have to smile like that?" Sokka asked in a demeaning tone.

"Sorry," Ty Lee quickly wiped the grin from her face, "I'm sorry for bothering you all the time, and…I'm sorry for what I did to your friend."

Sokka looked at Ty Lee incredulously. He was well aware of her crush on him and there was a time when he would have admitted that she was very pretty. But not now, not after what she had done to Suki and her warriors.

"What do you want," Sokka asked sourly, turning away from her.

Frowning in frustration, Ty Lee spilled out, "I'm on your side now, we're not enemies anymore! Can't we be friends?"

"No," Sokka shot back as he looked up to face her, "I forgave you for what you did, but I can't forget how it affected Suki. She wasn't the same when we found her, after she lost her warriors."

"I know what I did to Suki and the Kyoshi warriors was wrong, I wish I could go back and change what I did, I—"

"Don't," Sokka stopped her, "Just don't."

Ty Lee stood still as Sokka turned and walked away. Her eyes watered on the verge of tears as Mai approached silently.

"You tried," Mai said gently, facial expression betraying empathy for her friend as she extended a comforting hand.

"I should have listened to you," Ty Lee hung her head, her usual perkiness absent in her tone, "You were right."

* * *

Dinner was spent in the grand dining chamber of the Fire Palace. Since it would be everyone's last moment together, Iroh had planned a special meal for the departure. There were noodles, assorted fruits and vegetables, rice dishes, pastries, and, much to Sokka's enjoyment, a variety of meats.

The meal went by uneventfully for the most part, the high point being when Sokka began choking on a cherry and Toph hit him across the back, sending the cherry flying across the table hitting Zuko square in the forehead, earning laughs and snickers from everyone except a very flabbergasted Zuko.

* * *

Zuko stood nearby as Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph began loading Appa with their belongings in the palace courtyard. It had been decided that leaving at sunset, rather than dawn, would be most strategic in order to make Zuko's enemies believe that the Avatar and his mighty companions still guarded the Fire Palace.

The sunset bathed the scene in orange, and Zuko watched his closest friends, who had once been his bitter enemies, prepared to leave. Mai and Ty Lee stood next to him, more out of respect than to say goodbye.

"Fire Lord Zuko, could I talk to you for a moment," Iroh asked as he approached Zuko from behind.

"What is it Uncle?" Zuko questioned once he and Iroh were out of earshot of the others.

Stroking his beard, contemplating how to phrase what he needed to say, Iroh asked, "Have I ever told you the proverb of the old dragon?"

"Uncle, now is hardly the time for a story," Zuko pointed out, wondering why his Uncle had chosen now to share one of his old anecdotes.

"Let me rephrase this," Iroh said as his brow creased, "It has only happened twice in Fire Nation history, but written in the Code of Agni there is the seldom noticed clause that allows the Fire Lord to leave a regent in his stead, allowing him to pursue other interests."

"What are you suggesting," Zuko asked unbelievingly but already knowing the answer.

"I want you to go with your friends. I want you to go with the Avatar and help him defeat his foe," Iroh replied.

"I can't just leave!" Zuko blurted out, "I have responsibilities as fire lord, it would be dishonorable to run away from them, I can't just leave this behind!"

Iroh chuckled, "I know as well as you do that you don't want to be fire lord. And to be honest, I don't think the generals want you to be fire lord either."

Zuko looked at the ground, unsure how to react.

Iroh placed a hand on Zuko's shoulder prompting Zuko to look up as Iroh said, "This is not to say your are incompetent; you've proven yourself time and time again to be worthy of the title fire lord. But I know my nephew. I know how our time as refugees and as companions to the Avatar has affected you."

Zuko looked at his uncle attentively as Iroh continued, "When I was young I had ambitions to become fire lord, like you. But after my travels in the Earth Kingdom, I too did not want all the responsibilities that came with leadership. Someday you will be Fire Lord Zuko, and I have confidence that you will one of the greatest the Fire Nation has ever known, but now is not the time."

"What about you," Zuko asked, hardly able to believe Iroh's words, "what will you do?"

Smiling, Iroh responded, "Someone has to stay behind as regent to keep the generals in check. Fear not my nephew, I'll be able to handle things in this part of the world."

"Thank you," Zuko said quietly as he embraced his uncle, tears sliding down his cheeks. He was going to leave the closest thing to a father he had ever had.

Tears fell freely from Iroh's eyes as he returned his nephew's embrace. He had stuck by Zuko through thick and thin; parting with his beloved nephew would not be easy.

"I should go pack my things," Zuko said as he pulled away from his uncle.

"I've already taken the liberty," Iroh chuckled as he wiped his tears away with his sleeve, stooping down to reveal a sleeping role and backpack to which Zuko's duel swords were strapped to.

Thanking his uncle once again, Zuko picked up the two parcels and walked back to wear his friends were loading Appa. Mai and Ty Lee looked at Zuko with silent surprise as he walked past them.

"Sokka, catch!" Zuko said as he threw his sleeping role up to the water tribesman who stood on Appa's saddle.

"Zuko, what're you—" Katara began to ask.

"I'm coming with you guys," Zuko answered before she could finish, "Under leave of Fire Regent Iroh."

"Alright!" Toph cried as she pounded her fist, "Hothead's joining the party!"

Aang and Katara beamed at Zuko as he accepted a hand from Sokka up onto Appa's paddle.

"Great to have you with us," Sokka grinned, clasping the would-be fire lord's hand.

Zuko grinned back, then set down the bag with his twin Dao swords down. Momo ran over to inspect the bag before chirping up at Zuko and flying over to Aang. Hopping down, Zuko walked over to scratch Appa's muzzle. Iroh walked over as he did so.

"Hope you don't mind the extra weight," Zuko said.

Appa let out a started groan as Iroh patted the bison as well.

"Sorry I won't be able to come along this time," Iroh grinned unknowingly, "I'll miss you too."

Appa let out a sigh of relief at the heavy firebender's news.

Turning to face his young friends, Iroh said, "I'll miss all of you."

Aang, Toph, Sokka and Katara all gave their uncle Iroh a group hug goodbye. Iroh had given them wisdom and encouragement throughout the summer and they would miss him greatly. As they finished their goodbyes to Iroh, Zuko stepped forward.

"You'll be needing this," he said as he removed the crown from his topknot and handed to Iroh.

Accepting it, Iroh took it and placed it on his own head, saying, "Your nation is safe with me, Lord Zuko."

"Just Zuko," the firebending teen replied, hugging his uncle goodbye once more.

As Sokka and Toph, climbed aboard Appa, Katara and Aang paid Mai and Ty Lee their respects.

"Thank you for all your help," Aang bowed, serious faced, "I don't know if we could have taken down Fire Lord Ozai without you."

"It was an honor," Mai said fatly as she returned the bow, "We owed you after what you did for us."

"You can thank Zuko for that," Katara said expressionlessly, "But we're glad you made they right choice."

As Aang and Katara made their way to Appa, Zuko approached Mai and Ty Lee. He really didn't know what he'd say to them. He'd never known either of them very well, even in his childhood when they played with Azula in the palace courtyard he had tried to avoid them. When they had come to the Avatar for help, he had only vouched for them because he knew Azula's cruelty, not because of any attachment he felt for them.

"I never thought I'd end up here, with Azula's childhood friends," he began, before being interrupted by a hugging Ty Lee.

"Thanks for everything Zuko," she practically cried into his shoulder, "If it weren't for you we'd still be lost in the Earth Kingdom or worse."

Startled by Ty Lee's actions, Zuko brought a hand up to pat her on the back. Smiling tearfully, Ty Lee stepped away to leave Zuko to Mai.

The dark haired girl took a step closer to Zuko, then leaned up and kissed the Fire Lord on the cheek.

Wide-eyed and utterly shocked, Zuko raised a hand to where Mai had kissed him.

Mai merely blushed in response, giving a small, awkward smile as she stepped away.

Zuko swallowed hard, finding his voice, "I won't forget you,"he began as he looked from Mai to Ty Lee, "I won't forget either of you."

As Zuko climbed aboard Appa, Aang cried yip yip and furry bison took to the air.

* * *

The street corner armaments shopkeeper was ready to call it a day. Already some of the street salesmen were wheeling their sales carts down the road of the little town south of the Fire Capital. The setting sun marking closing time, the salesman was just closing shop when a customer hailed him from the counter.

"I need two pair of Tonfa," the black-cloaked customer rasped.

"Sir, you've come to the right place and just in time," the burly shop keeper turned from his business, "You can't find a better pair of weapons anywhere except the Fire Capital itself."

Taking a pair of baton like weapons off the wall, the shopkeeper was about to present them to the man when he looked at him for the first time, seeing that his customer's identity was concealed by a hood.

Glancing out the corner of his eyes at the wanted poster of General Tze posted on the wall, he put up his arms in a defensive stance, wielding the Tonfa batons saying, "Who are you, show yourself!"

The stranger's arms came up, two hands emerging out of both his sleeves as he pulled back his hood, revealing his face, or rather, what should have been his face.

The burly shopkeeper's eyes went wide and, turning completely pale, he fell over backwards, feinting at the sight of the faceless monster in front of him.

Le Jien entered the shop for a moment, picking up a Tonfa baton in each hand and strapping them to his side. Exiting the shop, he was met with a loud scream as a young streetvender dropped the handles on her sales cart and ambled off in fright.

Looking at the fallen cart, Le Jien's attention was gripped by one of the many masks the woman had been selling. Stooping down slightly, he reverently took the blue and white mask.

Holding the mask in his hands, his voice echoed icily from his mouthless head, "I'm coming Avatar Aang. This face is only temporary; I will reclaim _my_ face."

With that said, he placed the mask over his faceless head. With a new host, the Blue Spirit was reborn, and more deadly than ever.

* * *

On the far western coast of the Fire Nation, a small fleet of vessels sat unmoving in the sea. The shore was an empty piece of land that stretched to the horizon on either side in darkness. Azula, former princes of the Fire Nation, stood at the front of her vessel, eyes scanning across the ocean waters to the shore.

Her sharp vision caught sight of a lone Mongoose Dragon rider emerging from the jungles. Dismounting, the rider signaled the ship with quick a quick, low fire blast into the air.

"Lady Agni," one of the crew members rushed over and threw themselves on the ground behind Azula, "General Tze has arrived, he's signaled the ship and—"

"Send a ship," Azula replied curtly, not waiting for the man to finish.

The man pressed his face against the floor of the boat once more and dashed off to do as Azula commanded. She continued watching the shore as a small boat promptly began chugging its way towards the lone figure on the beach. Holding up her good hand to signal one of her crew, her other arm bandaged and held to her chest in a sling, she was promptly received by another man.

"Highness?"

"Get the fleet moving, he may have been followed," she said, turning her sharp glare to the man, "We need to get as far from the Fire Nation as possible."

"As you wish," the man bowed, too fearful to ask the destination. Azula wanted to leave the shores of the Fire Nation and he would obey without question.

Azula's ship had made considerable distance from the shore by the time the smaller craft had returned with General Tze aboard.

Meeting Azula on the lantern lit deck, Tze bowed respectfully and put on a disarming smile, "It's good to see you again. I trust the heir of Agni is feeling better?"

"If you're referring to my arm," Azula gestured to her sling, smiling amusedly making Tze sweat with uneasiness, "I am indeed feeling better. But aside from my health, I'm eager to hear the outcome of your mission."

"I regret to inform you, Lady Agni," Tze stuttered, "that the mission was a failure. We had the Avatar in our hands, but your brother managed to rescue him."

"Hmm," Azula smiled even more as she turned to face away from Tze, "Heir of Agni, Lady Agni, you come up with such colorful nicknames for me. But you understand that I cannot accept failure, and no nickname devised to placate me is going to change that."

Tze's puzzled expression was met with Azula's foot as she spun around, kicking him squarely in the jaw and sending him toppling over the edge of the boat.

"I have no room for failures on my ship or in the future reclamation of the Fire Nation," Azula declared to the guards that stood nearby, "When I call upon you I expect you to succeed."

Turning, she stocked into the ship, leaving behind her startled and fearful guards and the general she had once called an accomplice.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the wait, this one took me awhile to write. Thought I'd let people know that last chapter got 41 hits. I realize this isn't a very accurate way to measure readership, but judging from the fact that chapters two and three got 171 and 128 hits respectively, I think its pretty clear that I've lost some readers. I'm wandering what I did to turn people off to this story :/ Anyway, I really appreciate you readers who are sticking with this, especially those who review, it's very encouraging and informative :) 


	11. Open Water part 1

Flying through the clear morning sky, Appa glided over the treetops, bringing the sparkling ocean into view.

"Hey Aang," Sokka called from Appa's saddle, causing Aang to turn in attention from where he sat on Appa's head, "we need to pick up some things for the long flight to the South Pole. Is there a town nearby?"

"Right there," Zuko pointed from where he sat.

Below and ahead of them, a village lay sprawled out on the shore. A boardwalk lined the ocean side and several docks extended out into the water, all empty except for a few stray fishing boats in for repairs.

"Sokka," it'd take a week or more to get to the South Pole from here," Katara pointed out, "you can't expect Appa to fly us all the way there?"

"Of course he doesn't," Zuko said with a grin, "we can ride Appa halfway there and Momo can fly us the rest."

Momo let out an indignant chirp at hearing his name and jumped to the air sailing over to where Aang sat. Sokka and Katara stared at Zuko with uncertainty, his jokes always catching them a bit off guard, while Toph broke into a snickering fit.

"The sarcasm kills me, Zuzu," Toph managed through her attempts to suppress her laughter.

Unmoved by the joke, Sokka pointed out, "For your information, Toph, Zuko, I had a much better explanation." Clearing his throat, he resumed where Katara had left off, "Of course I don't expect Appa to fly us all the way there. He can swim too."

Utterly exasperated, Katara raised a hand in protest, but Aang's reassuring voice stopped her, "Don't worry Katara, Appa's a great swimmer."

Appa let out a loud roar, as if to answer Aang in approval.

"Okay, if you say so Aang, er, Appa," Katara replied to both her air nomad friend and his flying bison.

As the village neared, Aang held a hand to his forehead to screen the sun, scanning below and saying, "Hmm, not much room for a ten ton bison."

"How about there," Toph pointed nonchalantly over the side of the saddle.

Everyone looked expectantly to where Toph pointed, only to see nothing but more buildings below. This discovery promptly brought everyone back to the reality that Toph was blind.

"Don't you ever get tired of doing that?" Sokka questioned Toph in annoyance.

"Don't you ever get tried of falling for it?" Toph said amusedly as she leaned back in Appa's saddle with a grin.

* * *

"Hope you don't mind the water," Aang said as he patted Appa, "but there's not much room for a big guy like you around here."

The bison sat in the water along one of the docks, his saddle level with the pier and taking up the space that a small boat would. Appa grunted his reply to Aang and Momo leaped from the bison's head onto Toph's shoulder.

As the group made their way down the docks, they made plans for who would go where to get what.

"Sokka and I will get the food we need—," Katara began.

"Lots of meat," Sokka whispered from behind her, twiddling his fingers in anticipation.

"…and fruits and vegetables among other things," Katara finished, looking back at her brother with distaste.

"I'll get the water," Aang said holding up the water pouches that dangled from his staff.

As Aang, Katara, and Sokka headed off in different directions, Zuko questioned them from where he stood by Toph, "What about us, what should we get?"

"Oh, uh," Katara called back without stopping, "How about some warmer clothes, its pretty cold back home."

Zuko looked down to his side at Toph as she muttered with disgust, "We're going shopping?"

* * *

"Hey Katara, get all the supplies we need?" Aang asked in a strained tone as he approached her on the docks, heavily laden with water skins draped over his staff.

"Yep," Katara replied gesturing to the boxes at her side, "Sokka's hauling the last crate over now."

As if on cue, Sokka came down the dock, arms full with the heavy crate.

Setting it down with a thud, Sokka complained, "Seriously Katara, I don't see why you couldn't help me with all this."

"You were the one that wanted to buy so much," Katara rolled her eyes causing Aang to laugh. Hearing him laugh, Katara began to chuckle as well.

"Let's just get this stuff loaded," Sokka said as he took a sack from one of the crates and took at step onto Appa.

Katara and Aang began sorting through the boxes, handing stuff to Sokka to pack away on Appa's saddle.

"Wohh!" Aang suddenly cried as he leaped back in shock to see the Blue Spirit looming over him, then relaxed a little, "Jeez, Zuko, you scared me, I didn't know you still had that old mask."

The Blue Spirit stood tall with his arms at his sides, appearing for all the world like a statue. Suddenly the black sleeves ripped open as two arms spread like a pair of wings, each wielding their favored baton like weapons.

"Uhm, Aang," Sokka stuttered as he dropped the bag of food he was holding, "I don't think that's Zuko."

The Blue Spirit stood with tattered sleeves draping its four arms, declaring, "I've returned for my face," before striking forward.

Acting quickly, Aang thrust his staff down below himself and vaulted over the Blue Spirit, or Le Jien as it had become obviously clear. Whipping up an air scooter in mid air, Aang landed neatly on the other side of the spirit and zoomed down the dock.

Sokka had his club out and leaped at the Blue Spirit from Appa as soon as Aang was out of the way, but the Blue Spirit caught him in the air with a chopping motion with his two right batons sending Sokka into the water. Ignoring Katara, the Le Jien raced after Aang.

Appa, realized Aang was in danger, begin to raise himself from the water before Katara solaced him saying, "Stay here Appa, we'll take care of this!"

Running down the dock after the spirit, Katara spread her arms wide, building up a wave of ocean water in her wake

On the landward side of the dock, Aang pointed innocently behind the Blue spirit is he approached.

The spirit glanced backwards only to see that Katara had stopped, allowing her wave to rush past her. The wave collapsed on Le Jien, washing him the rest of the way down the dock and onto the boardwalk.

* * *

Toph leaned against a wall in the clothing shop with Momo perched on her shoulder, both of them looking completely bored. Zuko stood nearby, pawing through a pile of heavy looking clothing.

"Of all the people to drag me shopping, I would never have guessed it would be you, Princey," Toph sighed with annoyance.

Zuko rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that morning, defending himself, "I don't want to shop either, but we're headed to the South Pole and we need something warmer to wear."

"Says you," Toph uncrossed her arms and picked up a stray garment, "can't you just grab something and be done with it?"

"I have to look my best," Zuko said, his few weeks of returned royalty having already restored his sense of rich dignity, "and besides, that's a man's coat you just grabbed."

Toph's scowl remained as she tossed the garment aside and grabbed another one.

"That one too," Zuko repeated.

"And that one."

"And that one."

"And—"

"Alright already!" Toph roared, causing Momo to fly away in a panic as she tossed the last piece of clothing onto the pile she had built, "Just grab me something my size that will keep me warm and lets get out of here!"

* * *

The Blue Spirit was back on his feet immediately as Aang approached. Launching himself forward, Aang brought his staff down sending a gust of wind at the Spirit Avatar. Le Jien's arms crossed in front of him in defense as the air hit him, sending him sliding backwards across the wooden planking.

Katara was immediately at Aang's side whirling a strand of water as a swordsman might with a saber. Taking his cue from Katara, Aang dropped his staff and, instead of using water, began bending fire in an ornate blur.

Le Jien's arms unfolded and he paused a moment to scan his adversaries. His eyeless gaze quickly focused past Aang's whirling fire to the small bag strapped to his back. It was there, what he wanted—what he needed. He could feel it.

The Spirit Avatar lunged forward, arms raised to attack. Aang and Katara lashed out with their strands of fire and water. Rips appeared all over Le Jien's black robes, some smoldering and some soaked, as he swiped at each stream of water and fire with his batons.

Using their bending against them, the Blue Spirit directed his attack on Katara, striking at her wisps of water and redirecting them into Aang's fire strands, extinguishing them.

"Aang, do something!" Katara cried as the distance between her and the Spirit Avatar closed.

Finding firebending futile, Aang, having no earth at hand, reverted back to his air bending mastery to send a pulse of air into Le Jien.

It was too late however, and Le Jien had already jabbed Katara in several places on the arm and side of the neck with the tips of his batons before the blast knocked him out of the way.

Katara stood frozen, managing to mutter, "You've got to be kidding me," before collapsing onto the wooden planks, Chi blocked an unable to move.

"Katara!" Aang roared, reaching out into the air as if he could catch her.

Infuriated, he whirled his hands to create an air scooter. Fire streamed from his hands as he zoomed forward to the Spirit Avatar's fallen body, preparing to unleash a storm of fire on the Spirit Avatar.

Before Aang knew what happened, Le Jien twisted sideways and chopped through Aang's air scooter, sending the Avatar sprawling onto the boardwalk. The bag containing Le Jien's face flopped from Aang's unmoving body, landing a short distance further.

Lowering his arms, Le Jien seemed to flow over to wear the bag lay. Stooping to reach down, the Spirit Avatar suddenly whirled around as a shadow cast over him, blocking the club with a crisscross of his batons.

"You really shouldn't steal Aang's purse," Sokka said through clenched teeth as he struggled against the Blue Spirit.

Leaping back as Le Jein struck forward with all four arms, Sokka whipped his boomerang from its holster let it fly. Le Jien's masked head ducked to the side, allowing the boomerang to go sailing past.

"Missed," he hissed from behind the Blue Spirit mask.

Sokka grinned at the blue face in front of him with anticipation as his boomerang began it return flight. Unfortunately Aang had chosen that time to get to his feet and return to fight, preparing to strike Le Jien from behind.

"Aang, look out!" Sokka yelled as he charged forward.

Turning, Aang didn't even have time to react as Sokka's boomerang embedded itself in his glider staff.

Wide eyed, Aang turned to thank Sokka for the warning but was met with the snaggletoothed grin of the Blue Spirit mask. As the Blue Spirit struck forward with three arms, Aang dodged sideways. Taking advantage of Le Jien's lack of concentration, Sokka swiped the bag containing the spirit's face from Le Jien's fourth arm and tossed it to Aang.

* * *

"I still don't see why we had to get so much," Toph mumbled from behind the mountain of clothes she was carrying.

"Sure you do," Zuko insisted from behind his own armload of clothing, "You don't want to wear the same dirty clothes everyday do you?"

"Nothing wrong with a little dirt," Toph replied before the sounds of battle reached her ears.

Rounding the corner of a building, Zuko suddenly beheld Katara lying flat on the board walk with Aang and Sokka further down battling…the Blue Spirit? Zuko blinked once before dropping the load in his arms and rushing to aid his friends.

"What's going on?" Toph called from behind her mountain of clothes, only to be answered by a chirp from Momo who sat on top of her armload.

"Toph, over here!" Katara yelled from where she lay.

Dropping her load, to the annoyance of Momo, Toph made her way carefully over to Katara.

"Toph, thank goodness!" Katara cried with relief, "It's the Spirit Avatar, he paralyzed me with those weapons he has, I can't move!"

"What do you want me to do about it Sugar Queen?" Toph questioned, "I can't exactly see out here; I'm not a woodbender."

"We have to get back to Appa. I'll be your eyes, but you'll have to be my legs. Just drag me in the direction I tell you!"

"Ugh, alright," Toph sighed reluctantly, leaning over and finding Katara's arms.

Meanwhile, Le Jien had resumed the fight, using two arms to fight Sokka and the other two to fend off Aang and Zuko. A combination of fire, air, and edged metal struck at him from all directions, but the Spirit Avatar only seemed to become more energetic with each strike, rather than slowing down with fatigue.

"Keep going Toph, you're doing great, we're on the dock now," Katara cried encouragement as Toph dragged her slowly.

"Yeah, easy for you to say," she grunted as she blindly plodded step by step backwards.

Momo scampered ahead of Toph, clearing away lengths of rope and other objects from the blind girl's trail.

Zuko had two daggers of flames extending from his fists, using them to jab at the spirit while Aang shot blast after blast of air into him. But Le Jein's batons and extra pair of arms proved capable of repelling everything they threw at him.

"We can't keep this up," Sokka declared as Le Jien sent him reeling backwards, one arm completely paralyzed, "We need to get out of here, now!"

Zuko and Aang nodded in unison as they dashed down the dock, occasionally turning to shoot a blast of fire or air back at their enemy to slow him down.

"Almost there Toph, we're almost there," Katara said. Noticing Aang, Sokka, and Zuko racing up the dock with Le Jien in pursuit, she yelled, "Toph, a little faster!"

"I'm going as fast as I caa-ahhhhhhn!" Toph yelped as she was grabbed abruptly around the waste by Zuko and swung into Appa's saddle.

"Yip yip, yip yip!" Zuko roared as he dove for Appa's reins.

Aang and Sokka hoisted Katara aboard as Appa took to the air. Looking back, they saw Le Jien come to a skidding halt at the end of the dock. The mask of the Blue Spirit stared back at them with its transfixed grin as he stood there, motionless as a statue.

* * *

"Well that was fun," Toph muttered sarcastically as she took a long drink of water.

"What happened?" Zuko questioned Aang.

"We were loading Appa when Le Jien arrived. Only," Aang said looking Zuko in the eyes as an old memory came back for both of them, "he was wearing the mask of the Blue Spirit. I don't know why."

Aang and Zuko were suddenly interrupted by Sokka's belated moan, "We forgot the food!"

"We'll manage," Katara replied from where she lay, recuperating from the Spirit Avatar's paralyzing blows, "we managed to get some of the supplies aboard."

"Let me get this straight," Toph asked, "We've got no food, no water, no warm clothing," she glared in what she thought was Zuko's direction, "and we're stuck flying on Appa for over a week?"

"We'll manage," Katara answered, "We've got enough to last the trip, and we can always pick up some warm clothing once we get there."

* * *

Water was the only thing in sight from all sides. The only thing that differentiated from the blue ocean below and the blue sky above was the orange glowing sun that hung in the sky. A day had passed since they left the Fire Nation.

Aang lay on Appa's head, leaning back on the bison's fur. Everyone else including Momo lay in Appa's saddle quietly, some comfortable, others not so much. To say the least, it was hot out. They were traveling from one temperature extreme to the other but had yet to reach the temperate zone.

Getting up and stretching, Zuko crawled over the edge of Appa's saddle and took a seat next to Aang.

"I've been thinking," Zuko began, "Even without bending, the Spirit Avatar seems to only get stronger as we fight him. There's something magical about him, something—"

"Spiritual?" Aang gave a dry laugh then continued, "I don't think we can beat him with normal bending."

"There's one thing we haven't tried," Zuko said looking at Aang meaningfully, "Lightning."

Aang shuddered. Lightning had been the only aspect of fire bending that he had not mastered. While it was true that not all fire benders could bend lightning, it was true that all Avatars could. But since his near death at the hands of Azula in Ba Sing Se, Aang had built up a fear of lightning. He knew the motions, knew the technique, but he refused to practice it. He had never used lightning once, not even in his battle against Ozai.

"I don't know…" Aang replied hesitantly.

Zuko nodded. Next time they faced Le Jien, he would be there to help Aang with the lightning. It seemed a sure way to defeat the spirit.

The peacefulness of their conversation was broken as they felt of the updraft from Appa's sudden decent.

"Woah," Aang cried, "tired already Appa?"

Appa let out a slow groan as he landed heavily in the water, sending a huge splash in all directions.

"Appa!" everyone in the saddle complained as they disentangled themselves from each other after the bison's heavy landing.

"It's okay buddy, you deserve a break," Aang sad as he leaned over Appa's forehead to look the bison in the eye.

"Yeah, he does, but a warning before landing would be nice," Katara complained as she stood up from the mess that had become Appa's saddle. Aang shot her an apologetic glance before he was suddenly knocked off balance as Appa rocked about in the water. Aang was about to chide his bison when he was put on guard by Appa's loud roar of pain.

The water began to boil with life as huge red tentacles broke the water's surface and began waving around wildly in the air. The water continued to ripple and bubble as giant spiked balloon like domes rose from the water all around, waving their slimy tentacles every which way.

Zuko rose to his feet, good eye wide with horror as he gasped, "No way."

* * *

**Authors Note: **Well, it took me awhile, but here's the next chapter. I've actually been debating whether I should continue this story or not. This has nothing to do with reviews, but rather…actually I'm not really sure, could be several things. But fear not, I wouldn't leave you readers hanging. I'll finish this one way or another, either continuing to write these poorly conceived 'episodes' or organizing my notes into a readable narrative. We'll see how it goes. 


	12. Open Water part 2

The creatures' tentacles latched onto Appa causing the bison to roar in pain. Momo screeched and flew into the air and a scream of shock rang out as one of the slippery tendrils flopped onto the saddle, latching onto Toph and wrapping around her.

"Toph!" Katara screamed, startling both Zuko and Aang out of their initial state of shock.

"Help!" Toph shouted from up in the air where the tentacle held her out over the water, surrounded by numerous other slimy appendages.

Running and jumping from Appa's saddle, Aang landed on one of the balloon like bodies where the tentacles seemed to originate.

"I'm coming Toph!" he shouted as battered the bunches slippery tentacles out of the way with his staff as they raced toward him.

Trying to get closer to her, Aang began slashing through the red tentacles by shooting blasts of air by swinging his staff as he leaped across them like steppingstones. The blind earthbender struggled weakly to free herself from where she hung over the ocean, but the monster from the deep kept its firm grip around the girl.

Zuko was in the process of climbing back into the saddle from Appa's nape to join Sokka and Katara, who had begun freeing Appa from the creatures' embrace, when he cried out in pain as a stinging sensation surged up his leg. Looking back in shock, he struggled unsuccessfully to free himself as the tentacle coiled around his leg and the rest of his body and carried him out over the water.

Seeing Zuko in danger, Sokka leapt from Appa's saddle onto one of the tentacles, trying to hop across them as Aang did, shouting, "Hang on, Zuko!"

Before he knew what happened, the tentacle writhed beneath him causing him to fall on his hindquarters and hold on for dear life as the creature tried to throw him off.

"Hold on yourself!" Zuko shouted as he viciously fought the constricting tentacle. Struggling for breath, he attempted to free himself with his breath of fire, but unable to get enough air, only a thin wisp of smoke trailed from his mouth.

Sliding along the coils of one of the creatures, Aang pushed his way through the still squirming tentacles that he had severed from the body and launched himself into the air. Bending the water up from the ocean into giant razor edged waves, he sliced through the tendril that held Toph with two clean cuts.

The wriggling appendage released its hold on the girl and fell into the ocean performing its death throws. Toph fell with it and floundered in the water only a moment before Aang came to the rescue to pull her from the sea as he swooped over on his glider. The creature that had held Toph, discovering almost all of its arms missing, sank into the water with a gurgling noise.

Still standing in Appa's saddle, Katara laid waste to any tentacle that ventured near the wounded bison, cutting through everything with a razor sharp stream of water that whirled about her in the air. Momo avidly flew about crying his little lungs out as he dodged tentacle and water whip alike.

"Momo, get out of there!" Katara said, quickly grabbing the lemur by the tail and swinging him down into the saddle.

Tumbling as he landed, Momo crawled into the nearest bag to hide leaving only his shivering tail visible.

Sokka continued to ride the squirming tentacle like a wild lobster-bull, shouting incoherently until he was finally thrown free.

Landing on the head of one of the domed creatures, he quickly picked himself up and slammed his club into the appendage that held Zuko. Once, twice, three times before it finally went limp, dropping Zuko into the water.

Seeing Zuko attempting to swim back to Appa, Sokka concentrated on the jumble of tentacles that sprang from the water to avenge the one he had wounded.

Zuko struggled to swim through the ocean water as it twisted about from all the fighting and movement of the giant creatures. Already feeling the affects of the poison from the creature's tentacles, he barely managed to pull himself onto Appa.

Katara stopped her furious attack on the marine animals for the briefest of moments to ask, "You okay?"

Zuko managed to nod before collapsing in Appa's saddle with a grunt. Fumbling around, he came across his twin Dao swords and stood up weakly.

"Zuko, you're in no condition to fight," Katara said, startled to see Zuko standing as she cut through another tentacle and noticing his torn up clothing.

"I'm fine—" Zuko contradicted before being knocked flat by a swaying tentacle.

Aang deposited Toph in Appa's saddle next to Zuko, saying, "Stay here guys, it's almost over," before flying away again to help Sokka.

Zuko looked up from where he had fallen, questioning Toph, "Did you get stung too?"

"Yeah," Toph winced, then said fearfully, "I can't move my legs."

"I feel it too," Zuko answered as he struggled to get up, only to fall back into the saddle.

Aang found that Sokka had successfully 'convinced' one of the creatures that it wasn't worth the struggle with a Water tTribe warrior, which left only one more of the creatures to take care of. Using the creatures domed body as a vantage point, Aang sliced through all the tentacles that flew at him, cutting with air, water, and fire. Finally, with the loss of all its limbs, the creature fled the scene, sinking into the ocean.

Aang flicked his glider closed as he landed on Appa next to where Sokka had collapsed in the saddle.

Clothing torn up from where he had been stung, Sokka grinned weakly as he asked, "Did we win?"

Katara managed a weary smile from where she stood, completely exhausted. Zuko, Toph, and Sokka lay at her feet like rag dolls. Grim faced, Aang dove into the water, searching the depths for any sign that the animals that attacked them might return.

Finding nothing, he turned and swam up beneath his bison. Numerous red welts and lacerations from the marine creatures' poison stood out on Appa's normally clean, gray stomach.

"Appa…" Aang said slowly as he surfaced next to the bison's face, tears already welling up in his eyes.

The bison's eyes flickered open as he let out a long, sad groan.

Finding him alright, Aang hugged Appa's face, thankful that he hadn't lost his lifelong friend.

* * *

"Well that was fun," Toph grumbled weakly, as Katara checked her body for injury with water covered hands, "Could someone please warn me next time we're attacked by slimy water monsters?"

Aang gave Toph a sharp look, despite that fact that she couldn't see it, as Sokka asked, "Seriously though, what were those things."

"Agni Man o' Wars," Zuko answered from where he lay paralyzed.

"Agni Man o' Whats?" everyone asked in unison.

"Like giant Octajellyfish," Zuko answered, "I thought they were only a myth. In my two years spent at sea, we never came across one."

Standing up from where she had knelt next to Toph, Katara explained thankfully, "As far as I can tell, you guys should be okay," she turned to look at Aang meaningfully, "Appa too. The poison only has a paralyzing affect."

"Well this is just great," Sokka complained, "we're in the middle of the ocean and we're all paralyzed."

"And some of our supplies fell into the water during the battle," Katara observed as she took a quick inventory of their belongings.

Finding Momo hiding in one of the remaining food bags, Katara attempted to remove the little lemur. Momo held on tight, not wanting to leave his hiding place, but after much effort Katara managed to pull him free and Momo popped out of the bag like a cork from a bottle.

"No food!?" Sokka shouted, then whimpered hysterically as Momo bounced off his head, "we're doomed. Lost at sea with nothing to eat, could things get any worse?"

"Yeah," Aang muttered angrily, "Appa could have been killed and the Spirit Avatar could find us out here."

"Guys, everything going to be fine, we still have some food and water," Katara interrupted causing everyone to look up at her, even Momo as he rubbed his soar head from landing on Sokka. Looking at Aang, she continued, "Everyone else is paralyzed, but they wouldn't be much help anyway."

"Hey!" Sokka shouted indignantly while Zuko grunted his annoyance and Toph warned, "Watch it Sweetness or I swear I'll overcome my paralyses just to throw you in the water!"

"Guys, that's not what I meant," Katara explained wearily, "Aang and I are waterbenders. We can work in shifts and bend the water behind us to sail Appa like a boat."

"Appa's _not_ a boat Katara," Aang practically spat as he glared at her.

"You know what I mean," she replied, slightly hurt by Aang's tone, "It's our only chance."

Aang glared at her and shoved his staff into her hands wordlessly. Sliding down Appa's tail on his feet, he took up a stance began bending the water to propel them.

Katara looked up at the sun for a moment, squinting her eyes as she realized the intense heat and then returned her gaze to the three paralyzed bodies at her feet.

"I'm going to try to get some rest, you guys should do the same. Try not to let the heat get to you," she said as she stepped over the saddle onto the back of Appa's neck to curl up.

Hair a mess and eyes filled with hurt and frustration, she whispered to herself, "Everything is going to be fine," before closing her eyes.

* * *

"Food," Sokka moaned, "Must have food!"

The heat was extraordinary, but the hunger was the worst for Sokka. A day had gone by, and still Zuko, Toph, Sokka and Appa were paralyzed and Katara and Aang continued to work in shifts to propel Appa. Aang had grown silent again and Katara tried to give him some space,.

Hearing Sokka's cries, Momo hopped onto the immobile boy's chest, peering at him with wonder.

"Momo, listen," Sokka said in a hushed tone, "If you get some food from the bag over there," he motioned with his eyes, "I'll split it with you."

Momo cocked his head sideways, wondering what in the world Sokka could be babbling about.

"Will you give it a rest," Zuko griped from where he lay on the other side of the saddle, "He hasn't understood you any of the past ten times you've asked and he's not about to now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sokka said defensively, still urging Momo on with his eyes.

"Will both of you put a lid on it," Toph ordered, "the heat is bad enough, I don't need to listen to you two squawking at each other like a couple of hog monkeys."

"Who made you captain of the Appa?" Sokka asked pointedly, "Or are you some kind of Earth Queen? I can talk all I want, talk talk talk, listen to me talk, Toph."

"It's too bad your mouth wasn't paralyzed with the rest of your body," Zuko complained as he willed his body to roll over to no avail.

"Heh, good one Zuko," Toph said as she let out a short chuckle from where she lay.

"And who do you think you are, hmm? Some kind of Fire…Lord?" Sokka asked, realizing his mistake too late.

"Yes," Zuko replied in annoyance, "and I order you to be quiet."

Toph burst out laughing, saying, "I hate to say it Sokka, but I think Zuko just bested you in sarcasm."

"What? No! He's not even trying," Sokka replied as he began to ramble, "Zuko's just getting lucky. Yeah, that's it, he's just getting lucky!"

"Guys! The heat is getting to us all," Katara said from over the side of the saddle, "but could you please stop all the bickering."

"Sorry Sugar Queen, did we interrupt your beauty sleep?" Toph asked sending both Sokka and Zuko into snickering fits.

Katara let out an annoyed snarl that quickly shut both Sokka and Zuko up as she barked, "Okay, I'm up, what do you guys want!"

"Katara, we're hungry," Sokka whined despairingly.

Crawling into the saddle and standing with arms akimbo, Katara looked down at her three helpless friends with displeasure, then grabbed one of the food sacks to prepare something for them.

* * *

"Ugh," Toph groaned as her face contorted with disgust as she finished her mouthful, "Isn't there anything else to eat?"

"Meat? Meat soup? Meat anything?" Sokka pleaded.

"Nope," Katara answered as she finished spoon feeding Toph and knelt next to Zuko with the bowl of 'food', "We can't exactly build a fire out here. Zuko could firebend for us if he wasn't indisposed, so its cold mush for you guys."

"What about Aang, he can firebend us something," Zuko suggested before receiving a spoonful of the mashed fruits, vegetables, and an assortment of other things.

Trying to swallow the foul spoonful, Zuko quickly said, "I don't think I'm very hungr—"

Katara shoved another spoonful in his mouth.

"Katara, this stuff tastes horribl—"

Zuko was interrupted again as Katara shoveled another spoonful into his mouth, clearly enjoying herself.

"Eat up my little Zuzu," she said in a mothering tone, wiping a spot of the gruel from his chin.

"I am not your little—" Zuko began defiantly before another spoonful shut him up.

Momo looked on as Katara fed Zuko and seeing his chance, he reached into the bowl a moment to taste the food, only to break into a fit of gagging and coughing.

"Guys!" Sokka said excitedly, "I think I'm getting some feeling back!"

Eyes clearly showing his level of concentration, Sokka began to lift an arm a few inches before it pathetically fell back to rest in the saddle.

"Great," Katara said, placing a bowl of food in his hand, "You can feed yourself then."

Getting up, Katara stooped down to pick up the other bowl of food she made for Aang, something much better tasting than the mush she fed the three villains that woke her up, and stepped off the saddle to talk to Aang from where he silently propelled Appa from the bison's tail. Sokka trailed her with his eyes, horrified that she was leaving him.

Seeing Momo out of the corner of his eye, Sokka called, "Momo, I don't care how bad it tastes, get over here and feed me."

Crawling over, Momo sniffed the bowl in Sokka's paralyzed hand, made a gagging noise, and promptly tossed the bowl over the side of the saddle to land in the ocean with a splash.

"Momo! No!" Sokka wailed despairingly.

* * *

"Aang?" Katara asked somewhat timidly from behind the young Avatar.

"What," Aang answered simply as he continued to bend the ocean water.

"I thought you might be hungry," she said, offering the bowl of food, "and if you take a break, we can feed Appa."

Aang stopped his bending, relaxed from his stance, and took the bowl from Katara wordlessly.

"Look, Aang," Katara began quickly, "I'm sorry if I was being a bit insensitive about Appa earlier. You know we all care."

"I know," Aang said sitting down.

"We'll get through this," she said, sitting down next to him.

Seeing Aang's half smile, Katara grinned, "And when we do we'll pamper Appa so that he won't even remember all this."

Letting out a short chuckle, Aang finished for her, "And more moon-peaches than he can lay eyes on."

Katara smiled but Aang grew serious again, sighing, "Everything was supposed to end when I defeated Ozai, but things have been just getting worse. Le Jien is after us, Appa is hurt, and now we're stuck in the ocean with those poison bubble monsters."

Katara gave Aang a side ward hug, murmuring, "You're the Avatar and I believe in you, but you need to believe in yourself. You can set things right, you know you can."

Katara suddenly grew rigid as she stood up, her expression fearful.

Standing up next to her and raising a hand to shield the sun form his eyes, Aang followed her gaze out to sea and shuddered, "Not again."


	13. Open Water part 3

Aang and Katara looked out over the watery expanse to the small boat that followed them. Undoubtedly trailing them, the boat continued to near and Aang swore he could make out the mask of the Blue Spirit sitting at the prow.

"Leave this to me," Aang said as he bounded up Appa to fetch his staff.

Katara ambled after him saying, "I'm coming too."

"No," Aang replied as he unstrapped the bag that held the Avatar Spirit's face and stashed it with the rest of the supplies, "I need to do this myself."

"What's going on?" Zuko asked worriedly, eyes shifting from Katara to Aang.

"The Blue Spirit's back," Aang replied, looking down at the disabled firebender as he snapped his gilder open, "he's trailing us by boat."

"Aang, I can help," Katara said, grabbing his arm so that he couldn't leave, "we'll have a much better chance if we work together."

"If something happens to us then Toph, Sokka, Zuko, Momo, and Appa will be stranded out here," Aang said, looking down at his friends who lay in the saddle and then back to the girl that held his affections, "They need you more than I do."

With a look of remorseful confusion, Katara let go of Aang. Watching as he took to the air and flew out over the open sea, Katara melted into Appa's saddle, unsure what to do.

Straining with concentration, Zuko raised his arm shakily and his hand found Katara's, catching her attention and causing her to turn around in surprise.

"Let him try," Zuko said, looking at her meaningfully, "but don't hesitate if he needs help."

Absorbing Zuko's advice wordlessly, Katara turned back to watch as Aang neared the Spirit Avatar's boat.

* * *

Aang looked down at the boat as he neared it. The Blue Spirit, freshly clothed in a black gown, seemed to make eye contact with him, following the Avatar as he glided over.

"Cease your flight," Le Jien's voice echoed from behind the blue mask, "You only run from the inevitable."

Dropping like a stone, Aang landed in the middle of the small boat and held his staff out defensively. The boat rocked lightly from his landing and the Blue Spirit turned to face him.

"This ends now,, Le Jien," Aang commanded as he glared at the spirit.

"Yes," the Spirit Avatar agreed and then continued, "But you do realize that by destroying me you are also destroying any hope for balance in this world."

"We've been over this," Aang growled, "you idea of balance is--"

"I can bring the airbenders back," Le Jien interrupted.

Aang's expression changed suddenly to that of confusion as he lowered his staff and ordered, "Prove it."

Le Jien stood motionless as he said, "It's already begun."

"I don't believe you," Aang shouted, "you've tried to trick me before and I'm not falling for it."

"Aang," Le Jien seemed to take a softer tone, "We both want the same thing and we both know that you can't accomplish it. The world needs balance and it can only reach that balance if you return my face to me."

"No," Aang said pointedly as he raised his staff once again.

"You think you can defeat me? You think you can bring balance to this world? " Le Jien's voice grew more menacing as he scoffed, "your own unbalance within yourself has kept you from both. Your Avatar State may have saved you if you hadn't given it up for your fools desire to cling to love, but now you are helpless before me. You have chosen--"

Stinging from Le Jien's accusations, Aang sprang into action, bringing his staff up and slamming it down with tremendous speed, interrupting the Spirit Avatar's speech with a blast of air.

Le Jien's batons slid from his sleeves and into his hands in the blink of an eye as he brought all four arms up and then out in a slashing movement to dissipate the air.

Whirling his staff in circles, Aang continued bombarding the spirit with missiles of air. Le Jien's arms took on minds of their own as they moved like lightning to block each of Aang's blows.

* * *

"What's going on over there?" Sokka asked worriedly as he noticed his sister tense up.

"They've started fighting," she answered without taking her eyes from the battle that waged on the boat.

Momo got up to perch on the side of the saddle next to Katara to watch as Aang dueled the spirit.

"Kick his butt Aang!" Toph shouted from where she lay.

* * *

Unable to hear his friend's encouragement, Aang continued to attack the Blue Spirit with a change of tactics. Taking a step back, Aang took to the air once again just as Le Jien struck forward in the place he had just stood.

Flying tight spirals around the ship, Aang dropped one foot from his glider to kick out several blasts of air. Crashing into the small sail boat, the mast split in half and nearly collapsed on the Blue Spirit. Jumping aside, Le Jien let out an angry grunt as he got up to watch the Avatar fly over the water.

Tossing his glider ahead of himself, Aand whirled the air below his feet to create an air scooter. Zooming across the water towards the ship and holding his hands back to gather the ocean water as he traveled, Aang built up a giant wave behind himself. Deciding he was close enough, he released the tsunami to cascade over the top of Le Jien and the entire boat.

Aang's satisfied smile quickly faded as the wave disappeared to reveal Le Jien standing with a bow in one of his left and right hands. His two empty arms crisscrossed his body as he began twanging the weapons into action, firing arrows rapidly at the Avatar.

Dodging side to side on his ball of air, Aang sped across the ocean and leaped into the air to catch his still flying glider. Le Jien continued firing both bows, his arms a blur as they picked up arrows and fired them at the Avatar.

Aang's glider proved too large a target to avoid the arrows and Aang found himself falling as several arrows ripped through the glider. Wobbling crazily in the air, Aang made a crash landing aboard Le Jien's devastated boat.

* * *

"No!" Katara gasped as she jumped to her feet.

"What happened?" Sokka asked worriedly, unable to see over the edge of the saddle, "What's wrong?"

Katara didn't answer as she jumped over the side and into the water. Seeing Aang's limp body lifted into the air by his shirt was too much for her and, freezing the water beneath her feet, she began her speedy surf over to aid her friend before it was too late.

* * *

"This ends now, Avatar Aang," Le Jien spoke with hatred as he lifted the Avatar from his feet.

Opening his eyes, Aang took in the face of the Blue Spirit in front of him and kicked out without thinking. Le Jien sputtered as if the wind had been knocked from him and Aang fell to his feet. Taking a stance, he brought his hands in front of him and two balls of flame appeared in each.

Le Jien recovered from Aang's blow and ducked down to retrieve his favored batons. As he stood up to face Aang, the Avatar puffed up with air and breathed out into the flame he had created, transforming it into a blazing shower of fire.

The wave of flame washed over everything, engulfing the boat with fire. Le Jien folded his arms up instinctively to defend himself, but even that wasn't enough. Lowering his singed and smoldering arms, silver skin revealed as his clothing burned away, Le Jien let out a growl and struck forward.

Flipping backwards, Aang landed with a somersault to pick up his staff and then made another jump onto the boat's cabin.

"Aang, get out of there!" Katara yelled.

Looking over his shoulder Aang saw Katara approaching, riding a tidal wave of water. Resolved to make sure their was no survival for Le Jien this time, Aang launched himself at the approaching spirit.

Staff met Tonfa as the Avatar and Spirit Avatar clashed. Le Jien's four batons struck forward, moving independently of one another as they sought out Aang's body. The young airbender parried all incoming strokes by the spirit, using every inch of his staff to its full potential. Waiting for the last second, Aang took a short leap backwards and then rocketed into the air with a jump only an airbender could perform.

Katara's wave collapsed over the boat, sending splinters of wood into the air. Coming down from his flight and freezing the water beneath his feet, Aang watched in awe as the wave receded to reveal nothing left of Le Jien or his boat.

Jumping from her vessel of ice onto the platform Aang had created, Katara wrapped Aang in a hug.

"It's over Aang, its over!" she cried as she embraced him.

"We did it," Aang replied with equal enthusiasm as he watched the water where Le Jien had sunk to his doom.

The spirit's remark concerning his abandoning the Avatar State for Katara had been on Aang's mind during the whole of the battle, and spirit's demise left Aang with a certain satisfaction that he had made the right choice.

* * *

"Whats happening over there," Sokka questioned with worried curiosity, "I still can't move to see whats going on."

"I could," Toph said as she weakly got her feet, "but--"

"No blind jokes Toph," Sokka replied as he strained himself.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he raised one hand and then the other. Momo looked at him curiously, watching as he struggled to move and, trying to be helpful, the little lemur began pushing Sokka to help him up.

Flopping over, Sokka slowly raised his head over the side, anxious to see what was going on. Aang's face appeared right in front of his at the same time he peered over, causing Sokka to reel over backwards into a squatting position and then to fall on his back.

"Sorry Sokka," Aang said cheerily, the defeat of his nemesis curing the moodiness that had plagued him."

"No problem Aang," Sokka said from where he lay on his back with Momo rocking him back and forth.

"What happened," Zuko asked as he struggled to get in a sitting position to no avail.

"We won," Katara said as Aang helped her back aboard Appa, "The Spirit Avatar is gone."

"We knew you could do it," Zuko replied, "Did you use lightning, like I suggested?"

"Well, no," Aang admitted, "But that breath of fire you and Iroh taught me worked pretty good."

"Wait, so he's dead," Toph questioned.

"Lets just say we don't have to worry about angry Spirit Avatars anymore," Aang grinned.

"He didn't just escape like before; like back a the Fire Palace," Toph continued with her skepticism.

"Toph's right," Sokka agreed, "Are you absolutely sure--"

"Guys," Katara said somewhat annoyed, "We both watched and he didn't resurface and he has no where to go but down."

"He's gone," Aang agreed as he looked back out over the water.

He had ended the mess he had created, and now he could resume life with his friends, playing and having fun. He could continue monitoring the peace between nations and helping those in need. And maybe he could finally tell Katara what he had longed to tell her for so long.

* * *

It had been hotter during the summer, when they were in the Fire Nation, but being out on the water with no shelter was proving unbearable. The heat was inescapable; no one wanted to get in the water, for fear that the Agni Man o' Wars might return. Aang and Katara continued working in shifts to propel Appa, and although he was recovering from his paralyses, he was still too weak to swim himself.

"You know, I've been thinking," Sokka broke the silence between Toph, Zuko and himself, who had nothing to do except sit in Appa's saddle.

"That's new," Zuko said quickly from where he lay with his eyes shut, now fully functional but still feeling a bit stiff.

"Yeah," Toph agreed while laughing and sitting up, "what've you been thinking about Snoozles?"

"There, you said it right there," Sokka exclaimed, "Why is it that everyone has a humiliating nickname except you?"

"Yeah…" Zuko said slowly, "Why is that?"

"Obviously because I don't have any negative qualities, unlike you guys," Toph replied with her usual air of confidence, "and I'm just too cool for that kind of thing."

"And how come uncle doesn't have one either," Zuko spoke again.

"Of course he does Princey," Toph contradicted, "his nickname is uncle."

Zuko palmed his forehead.

"I propose that we give Toph a nickname," Sokka said determinedly, whispering over to Zuko, "Think about it Zuko, if we could come up with something to use against her she couldn't make fools of us anymore."

"I guess it's worth a shot," Zuko replied noncommittally.

"Just try it," Toph said amusedly, "but unless my name is 'the greatest earthbender who ever lived' or 'the blind bandit', you're not going to come up with anything."

A long silenced passed between the three friends as both Sokka and Zuko's heat-demented minds worked furiously to think up a humorous nickname for Toph.

"Got anything?" Sokka finally asked.

"You first," Zuko replied, less than enthusiastic, "what's your idea?"

"Tender Foot," Sokka replied simply.

"Tender Foot?" Zuko questioned in confusion.

"You know," Sokka explained, "because she sees with her feet."

"Sokka," Zuko said matter-of-factly, "That is the stupidest name I've ever heard."

"Looks like you lose, Meathead," Toph said cheerily, entertained immensely by the little 'game', "What do you have Zuko?"

Zuko looked unsure of whether he was actually going to say anything, but finally spit out, "Rocky."

"Well, that's better than nothing," Toph grinned, "but I think you lose too."

"Ha! That's what you think Rocky!" Sokka exclaimed.

Zuko rolled his eyes, clearly pained by Sokka's foolery as Toph gave Sokka a playful shove that sent him over the side of the saddle and into the water with a splash.

* * *

The sun sank into the ocean as Aang and Katara decided to quit their waterbending for the night. Land remained elusive and both benders were exhausted. Everyone bedded down in Appa's saddle, unrolling sleeping bags and sharing blankets. It may have been hot during the day, but night had proven excessively cold.

Feeling restless and unable to find sleep, Katara removed herself from the group, careful not to wake anyone as she crawled down to rest on Appa's nape. Settling herself in the bison's fur for warmth, she gazed up at the starry sky. The southern constellations she recalled from her childhood came into view and gave her confidence that she was getting closer to home.

"Mind if I join you?" Zuko asked quietly as he slid down next to her to sit.

"No, of course not," Katara smiled, "I hope I didn't wake you."

Zuko returned the smile saying, "I've been asleep most of the day," and then held out the cup in his hand, "Tea?"

Katara watched as the cup began to steam before her eyes and she carefully took the cup from Zuko's hand.

"Good to see you firebending again," she said after taking a small sip, "I hope that means you'll be cooking breakfast tomorrow morning."

Answering with a quiet laugh, Zuko leaned back into the bison's fur comfortably.

"It's so clear out tonight," Katara said as she settled next to him, " I was trying to pick out all the star constellations from when I was a kid."

"Can you name some of them?" Zuko questioned.

"Sure," Katara said as she began pointing up at the sky, "That's the Mighty Seal Spirit, over there is the Great Polar Leopard, and that one there, with the big bright star, that's the Ice Mother.

Smiling, Katara continued, "I really don't know how I still remember all this. I guess it's just a piece of home I never forgot."

"Theres things about home that I'll never forget," Zuko said distantly to himself as a rush of memories flashed by. Shutting them out, he returned to the present asking, "What else do you remember about home?"

"Well," Katara began, unaware of Zuko's brief encounter with his past, "I remember ice fishing with dad and Sokka when I was really young, before dad left for the war. And there were all those times that Sokka and I stayed up after Gran Gran put us to bed to tell each other jokes. Gran Gran seemed so stern back then, but I really do miss her. "

Zuko took in everything Katara said, imagining what it would be like if that was his own childhood, and was startled when she stopped and asked, "It's really cold, do you mind if I..?"

Zuko turned and looked at her without giving an answer, which Katara seemed to take as a no because she shuffled her body next to his.

"Now where was I," she bean again.

Sokka appeared suddenly above them in Appa's saddle saying, "Hey guys, what are you doing up?"

Sliding down from the saddle, Sokka squeezed between them and putting an arm around both of them continued, "So what were you guys talking about."

After much shuffling and squirming to get comfortable, Zuko replied, "Katara was telling me about the South Pole."

"Home sweet home," Sokka grinned, "I think we're getting closer, it won't be long before we're out of this mess."

Katara eyed Sokka suspiciously asking, "We didn't wake you did we?"

"Oh, you know me," Sokka grinned, "I'm a bit of a light sleeper.

Rolling her eyes, Katara resumed looking up at the sky, which had become a bit more cloudy.

"So," Sokka began, "Speaking of Gran Gran, Zuko's going to have a fun time when he meets her again."

"Who's speaking of Gran Gran," Katara asked Sokka accusingly.

"I'm going to what?" Zuko questioned confusedly.

"Well after that performance when you came to get Aang," Sokka laughed, ignoring Katara, "do you really expect she's going to give you some of her famous sea prune stew?"

"I don't know what your talking about," Zuko said just as confused.

Katara brought her hands up to her mouth letting out a quick giggle, "Sokka, I completely forgot about that! Zuko, remember that woman you made an example of when you came to get Aang last winter?"

Zuko blanched, completely horrified as he sat up and yelped, "That was your Gran Gran?"

Both Sokka and Katara nodded, trying to suppress their laughter at their friends ugly situation.

Sighing with, Zuko closed his eyes and collapsed on his back saying, "Great, just great."

As he reopened his eyes, he noticed how the whether had drastically changed, with dark clouds rolling speedily overhead.

Seeing Zuko's change in expression, Sokka looked up and remarked, "Looks like a storm."

Squinting through the darkness, Katara suddenly jumped to her feet shouting, "You can say that again!"

Appa began to shake and bob crazily in the water as the waves began to batter him from all sides, causing him to groan into wakefulness. Thunder cracked overhead and Zuko, Katara and Sokka watched as a giant wave crawled through the darkness, nearing them and threatening to bury them all beneath the water.

"Aang, Toph!" They shouted as they dove into Appa's saddle and grabbed hold of their friends.

"Huh, what?" Aang mumbled sleepily as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I'm trying to sleep," Toph complained as her friends grabbed hold of her.

Momo, upset over being woke up, let out a squawk that was quickly muffled as Zuko grabbed hold of the lemur.

"What's going on guys..." Aang trailed off as he saw the wave loom out of the night above them.

Holding on to friend and saddle alike, they braced themselves as the rain began to pore and the wave suddenly scooped up Appa and sent them all tumbling into the sea.

Water was everywhere, washing all over them, battering them about as they tumbled about in its deep expanse. Losing hold of each other, not even Aang or Katara could orient themselves in the element as it twisted and pulled at their beings.

"Help!" Toph cried as she coughed up the water that had invaded her lungs, "I can't swim, help, I--"

She suddenly stopped crying out as she realized that she was standing shoulder deep in the water, but more importantly, she was standing on sand--earth. Feeling the direction of the waves, she struggled in a relieved panic to shore.

Dashing blindly from the sea water, she threw herself onto the sandy beach. She'd prefer solid earth, but after being without her element for so long, anything would suffice.

"Land!" she cried in relief, "Earth!"

Everyone else staggered from the ocean, finding the land beneath their feet and collapsed next to Toph in joy with the exception of Aang.

"Appa!" he shouted excitedly, finding his bison already on shore rolling around in the sand despite his injuries.

Stopping his antics, Appa lay on his stomach and licked Aang as the boy approached.

"We made it," Aang declared tiredly as he collapsed next to his bison's foot to rest, "We made it."

Sokka and Zuko looked around warily. The storm, the waves, and the rain was gone.

"What just happened," Sokka said, looking to Zuko for an explanation, "what happened to the storm?"

Zuko didn't answer because he didn't have an answer. It didn't make any sense at all.

* * *

On another beach the waves attacked at the shore wildly in the darkness. As the clouds parted a moment to let the moon's light through, a small object was revealed to be floating in a small pool of water up on the beach, buffeted by the waves that reached it. Transfixed its its ever smiling grin, the mask of the Blue Spirit lay lifeless as it found rest in the sand.

No sooner had it come to rest before a naked hand, silver in the moonlight, reach down to retrieve it from the puddle.

* * *

**Fun Fact:** Le Jien's name was inspired by the Bible story in which Jesus casts out the demon Legion. I really liked the name Legion for a villain because of symbolism of power and being 'numerous', and searching for the Chinese word for this, I was pleased to find that the translation was pronounced exactly the same with only spelling modification. Thus Legion is Le Jien. 


	14. The Temple Spirit part 1

Traversing the beach they had landed on the night before, Aang and Katara made their way along the tide line to pick up their belongings that had gotten lost during the flash storm. Already they had found several items that had washed ashore and they had high hopes of finding some of their prized possessions.

Bending the water soaked sea weed off a lump that protruded from the sand, Katara knelt down and exclaimed excitedly, "Aang, I think I found Sokka's maps!"

Aang kicked up wet sand as he speedily made his way to Katara's side, eager to check the maps to find out where they were. They had crossed a great expanse of the ocean and found land, but it clearly wasn't their desired destination, the South Pole.

"Let's see them," Aang asked as Katara opened the bag to reveal several pieces of soggy parchment.

Careful not to damage the fragile mess, Katara bent the water from the bag so that the paper wouldn't fall apart in their hands.

Taking a map out, Aang narrowed his eyes in concentration as he looked over the lines and writing. Frowning, he turned the map over several times, examining it from several angles.

"Well," Katara asked expectantly, "where are we?"

"I think we need Sokka to figure this one out," Aang said as he showed Katara the map, revealing where the ink had bled all over the map into a blurry mess, "I can't make heads or tails of this thing."

Making their way back to the makeshift camp on the beach where Appa rested, Katara and Aang walked along the water hardened sand carrying with them their recovered possessions, including Sokka's map, Zuko's Dao swords, Katara's water satchel, and Aang's aribending scrolls, among other things.

As they set down their load on a patch of beach grass wear they had made camp, Zuko approached laden with several bags and Aang's staff. Momo, who had gone out with him, lounged on the boy's shoulder, munching on some edible he had found on the shore. Dropping his bundle, Zuko offered Aang his staff, much to the airbender's delight.

"Thanks Zuko, and its in great condition!" Aang said as he examined his staff for injury and imperfection. Finding it to his satisfaction, he snapped it open causing sea water to spray all over himself and reveal the torn and shredded glider material. "Well, almost perfect condition," he sighed.

"I'm sure it was worth it though," Katara offered, remembering how it was ruined in the battle with Le Jien, "An airbending staff for a Spirit Avatar."

"Aang," Zuko said as he was reminded by Katara's comment and picked up a bag from the bundle he had brought, "I found this."

Taking the bag, Aang undid the cover strings and pulled out the silver face of his recently defeated foe. Katara and Zuko looked at the mask of the spirit as Aang held it, the features and sightless black eyes absorbing their attention. It wasn't an attractive face, but alluring nonetheless in an indescribable way. Even Momo stopped munching on his snack as he too was distracted by it.

"What are you going to do with it," Katara whispered , not taking her eyes from those of the face.

"I don't know," Aang said as he withdrew from his study of the face and stuffed it back in its bag, looking up at Katara and Zuko as he did so, "Hold onto it I guess."

Shaking his head rapidly as he snapped out of his stupor, causing Momo to leap from his shoulder to the ground, Zuko asked, "So did Toph and Sokka find anything?"

"Just a comfortable spot on Appa," laughed Aang as he pointed over his shoulder.

Sleeping in a sitting position against Appa's furry side, Sokka lay with his head tilted back, unkempt hair plastered over his face, and mouth agape with a trail of drool creeping down his chin. Next to him, Toph lay in a similar fashion, arms laying limp at her sides and her mop of black hair, having been tangled and disorderly by her ocean 'swim', occupied the place where her head and face should have been.

"I should have known," sighed Zuko, rolling his eyes.

"Wake up Sokka," Katara said as she squatted down and prodded her brother, who only grunted in his sleep. Not getting the desired result, Katara grinned up at the Avatar, "Aang, would you mind doing the honors?"

Grinning evilly, Aang gave Zuko a side ward glance saying, "Watch this."

Zuko looked on as Katara handed Aang her bending skin, suppressing her laughter at the monk's gleeful expression. Bending the water into a long tentacle and barely able to contain himself, Aang silently coiled the water around Sokka's leg.

Satisfied, Aang shouted, "Sokka, the Octajellyfish are back!"

The warriors eyes flashed open into sudden wakefulness a second too late as he was pulled into the air dangled over the heads of his companions.

Aang fell over with laughter, holding his aching sides with one hand and bending the water with the other as Sokka struggled madly to free himself. Taking to the air, Momo began flapping in front and all around Sokka, adding his wild chirps and squawks to Sokka's panicked yelling.

Even Zuko couldn't help but break into a wide grin at the water tribesman's furious attempts to fight off his watery foe, completely oblivious to Aang's manipulations below. Turning his gaze from Sokka to Aang, Zuko realized how much the Avatar's mood had changed in such a short time. It was only days ago that Aang was the picture of misery, not knowing where his enemy was nor knowing a way to defeat him. It was good to see Aang as himself again.

Katara noticed this as well, her laughter transforming into a comforted smile seeing Aang so cheerful again, despite it being at her brother's expense. He deserved it after the despair he felt over the Spirit Avatar and the pain of being unable to do anything for Appa's injuries.

Finally settling down, Sokka's stopped his frantic attempts to break free and scowled down at Aang from where he hung upside down.

"Okay, I'm awake, jokes over," he said as Aang lowered the water tentacle to lay him in the sand.

Momo landed on Sokka's shoulder as the teen stood up and frowned indignantly at each of his three tormentors while they bit their lips trying to hold in their laughter.

"What's so funny?" Toph asked with a yawn as she stood up from where she slept, having been roused into wakefulness by Sokka's loud cries for help and her other friends' laughter.

Dusting himself off, Sokka began to explain before facing the girl, glad to have someone who wasn't laughing at him, "Aang thought it would be funny to—What happened to your head!?"

Momo let out a loud shriek and hid behind Sokka's head as he too saw Toph approach, who, with her hair hanging over her face, looked all the world like monster washed up from the deep.

"My head?" cried Toph worriedly as she brought her hands up to search her tangled hair for the object of Sokka's exclamation, "What's wrong?"

"Calm down Sokka, thats just her hair," explained Katara as she pulled her flustered brother away from the blind earthbender before he tried to attack her disorderly hair, "Give her a chance to clean up and everything will be back to normal."

Toph could only roll her eyes behind her mask of hair at the realization that Sokka was just being his normal, overreacting, morning self. He could be so weird sometimes. Was that why she...

Toph shook her head rapidly at the thought and made her way to the stream she sensed was nearby. She'd promised herself to ignore those feelings for Sokka, knowing full well how he felt about Suki. She was Toph and Toph is unbreakable, she told herself, shaking this off was as simple as dodging a boulder in the Earth Rumble tournament.

'Is this how Aang feels?' she sighed in defeat as she stooped down by the stream to scoop water up with her hands, wondering silently how Aang dealt with the feelings for Katara only she had sensed in him.

* * *

As Toph left and after blinking several times and taking a deep breath, Sokka said, "Okay, I think I'm awake now. Aang," he began, turning towards the grinning monk, "never, under any circumstance, wake me up like that again." 

"Sorry Sokka," Aang chuckled as he pulled the warriors maps out, "We wanted to ask you if you could figure out where we are."

Accepting the parchment from the Avatar, Sokka examined his ruined map carefully, tracing seemingly invisible lines with his finger and he brushed over the ink stained parchment. Looking up at the scenery and back to the maps several times, Sokka's growing smile seemed to indicate he knew where they were.

"Well?" Zuko asked finally for everyone.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," Sokka replied as he spread the map for everyone to see, "See, here's the Fire Nation, this is the ocean we were crossing, and the South Pole is down--"

"We know that part," Katara interrupted, "Where are we?"

"Here," Sokka pointed to a blurry white island on his map, and than to the mountain range that stood beyond the forest that bordered the beach they stood on, "Near the Southern Air Temple."

* * *

After foraging a quick breakfast, it was unanimously decided to head toward a village indicated on Sokka's map. Riding Appa was out of the question, still soar and weak from his experience out at sea, so they had begun the trek on foot. 

Carrying packs on their backs, loaded with as much as they could carry to relieve Appa of any extra weight, the five friends trooped through the forested hills, avoiding the rocky outcroppings that poked from the earth at odd intervals. Appa walked behind them with Momo perched on one of his horns.

"Don't worry," Aang said after a long while as he walked beside his bison, holding his staff in one hand and using it as a walking stick while giving Appa a comforting scratch behind the ear with the other, "We're going somewhere where you can rest and get taken care of. We just have to go a little further."

Appa gave Aang friendly nudge at the Avatar's reassurance, causing Momo to leap from his horn to perch on Aang's shoulder.

Aang couldn't help but feel everything was going to go right from here on out. It wouldn't be long before Appa could be taken care of properly, given all the food, grooming, and attention he needed. The Spirit Avatar had been dealt with and no longer threatened him or the rest of the world with his radical ideals for balance. In fact, in retrospect, he didn't seem like much of a threat at all.

After Appa was rested up, they could complete their journey to the South Pole. And at some point, Aang thought as he watched Katara walking ahead of him, he'd let her know how he felt. Just as the thoughts crossed his mind so did the memory of the Guru and Koh's warning.

"You cannot let yourself be compromised by your love for her," their voices echoed as one in Aang's head.

Aang frowned at this recollection. He deserved love after his long struggle with the Fire Nation, his short conflict with Le Jien, and every other tribulation he had been through. Why should he be denied this simple desire? The world would be fine whether he was with Katara or not, he would still be there to oversee the continued peace between the nations.

Resolute, Aang determined to tell her when the time was right. He had tried to tell her before, always at the wrong time it seemed. He'd be patient this time, waiting for just the right moment. Until then, he'd focus on the task at hand, and right now that was getting to the town for Appa's sake.

"I will never complain about flying again," Toph moaned as her hands fell to her knees to rest a moment, "If it wasn't for you guys I'd just earthbend my way to this village."

Stopping beside her, Zuko wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked Sokka, "Are you sure there's a village out here?"

"Yep, we should be there soon enough," Sokka confirmed, glancing at his map quickly before continuing his determined march.

Katara couldn't help but comment, "At least we have a map this time. Traveling by Sokka's instincts didn't work out so well last time," as she followed her brother.

After a long while of walking uphill through the forest, the five friends and their flying bison came across a dirt road that lead towards the open gate of a stone walled village. Several villagers whispered in hushed tones, pointing at the Avatar and his companions as they entered the town.

Waving at the towns folk, who waved back shyly, Aang scouted around the town with his eyes, searching for a place for Appa to rest and his companions did the same. A few villagers began scurrying about to let their neighbors know that the Avatar and his companions had arrived and soon a crowd had formed around the group.

"It really is him!" a tall, thin man shouted excitedly as he burst through the doors of a nearby building, then dashing down the wooden steps to greet the Avatar excitedly, "Avatar Aang! What a pleasant surprise! I hope I see you well--if theres anything we can do for you--I mean, we'll accommodate in you in any way possible!"

"A place for Appa to rest would be nice," Aang requested with a grin as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of course, of course," the man replied as his eyes widened, marveling at the bison's size before gesturing the Avatar forward, "This way, please."

As the man cleared the crowd to make room for the Avatar and his bison, the rest of Team Avatar stood back to let Appa go ahead.

"This guy is really excited to see Aang," Sokka joked from behind, "I thought his head was going to pop he was talking so fast!"

Laughing, Toph continued Sokka's humor saying, "His heart was beating so fast I thought it would explode."

"Be nice," Katara said trying not to laugh, "he's just excited to meet the Avatar.

"It's more than just meeting the Avatar," the man said suddenly from beside them, eyes sparkling with enthusiasm, shocking them all with his sudden presence and causing Momo to let out a startled screech before the man continued, "not many people can say they've met an airbender."

Returning to guide Aang and Appa through the village, the man led them through the town to a stable. Shooing away the barn animals that lay in the hay to make room for Appa, he fetched some of the stable keepers to tend to the bison.

Appa let out a relieved groan as he lay down heavily, startling the stable workers, he immediately began munching away at the abundance of hay in the barn.

Aang searched his pockets and then said a little awkwardly to the man who had brought them to the stable, "Thanks, Appa really needed this. I wish we could pay you, but we kinda lost all our money out at sea and--"

"Oh it's no trouble at all, meeting an airbender and his bison is payment enough" the man said happily, smiling at the content bison and then commenting as he ran his fingers through his graying hair, "I never imagined they would be so big!"

"What do you mean," Aang questioned, looking at the man with a raised eyebrow.

"Let me show you," the man replied, gesturing for Aang and his friends to follow him.

* * *

"This is incredible!" Aang said, wide eyed as he took in the spectacle in front of him. 

The man had led them to a building filled with various artifacts from Air Nomad society and culture. Arranged on the wall, staffs were spread out, displaying colorful glider designs. On a shelves, various airbender necklaces lay, ranging from simple beaded trinkets to the more ornate pieces.

If this wasn't impressive enough, arranged in another corner of the room were manikins made of hay and sacking wearing traditional Air Nomad outfits of orange and yellow. Their faces were painted in detail, all with blue tattoos and a range of hair styles. Some struck gliding poses, hanging from the ceiling with glider staffs spread out to mimic flying.

Next to the exhibit of airbenders, an arrangement of hay stuff flying bison and flying lemurs were displayed. To Aang's amusement, the crude bison models were only half the size of Appa.

"It's amazing, isn't it," the man who brought Aang said proudly, watching as Katara, Sokka, and Zuko explored the museum with interest, joined by Toph who ran her fingers over everything in sight.

"Avatar Aang, please excuse," the man said suddenly, "in all the excitement I completely forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kun."

"Nice to meet you Kun," Aang replied as he continued to look across the room at all the unforgotten pieces of Air Nomad society.

"Now where was I," Kun continued, "Ah yes. Ever since I was a boy I've been fascinated by the Air Nomads and their culture. As a student at Ba Sing Se University, I was terribly disappointed to learn that so little was known about the nomads. In an effort to learn more, I traveled here, to the nomad's homeland. Under Fire Nation control, I was prevented from making any serious discoveries for years, but with the end of the war I've already manged to learn so much."

"That's incredible," Aang replied as he examined a glider staff nearby, "People will finally be able to learn about my people and their customs. Oh hey," he said suddenly, remembering his own broken staff and showing it to Kun, "You wouldn't know how to fix this would you?"

"Hmm," Kun said, accepting the staff and examining the torn fabric and splintered wing span, then smiling, "You know, I think I could. I've learned quite a bit about Air nomad craft work. If you'll notice, all the Air Nomad clothing on display was designed by my colleagues and I, all from the murals we've studied."

"That really amazing," Aang grinned, "It's hard to believe so much can be learned without setting foot in the actual temple."

"What are you talking about," Kun asked in confusion as he set down Aang's glider, "I would have never learned the things I've learned without going up to the temple."

"You've been to Air Temple?" Aang exclaimed in shock, "How is that possible, the only way up is by flying bison."

Kun's face showed sympathy as he gently replied, "How do you think the Fire Nation got up there one hundred years ago."

"Oh..." Aang trailed off, suddenly realizing the naivety his childhood belief that the only way to an Air Temple was by flight.

"But," Kun spoke up again, smiling down at Aang, "Good things can always be found in the bad. The path up to the temple used by the Fire Nation soldiers still exists; it's the only way I was able to journey up there with my team of archaeologists."

Smiling at this, Aang watched as Sokka and Katara chased down Momo who was having a field day among the stuffed imitation lemurs. Taking refuge in Toph's lap where the blind earthbender sat on large cushion, having already lost her interest in the things she couldn't see. Momo chirped with victory as both Katara and Sokka shook their heads at the lemur's antics and began picking up Momo's mess.

"I don't think he broke anything," Zuko said as he approached Aang and the scholar, noticing Kun's worried expression.

"I hope not," Kun replied, then continued a little unhappily, "Since my research is ending I won't be able to go back to the temple to replace anything."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked curiously, sensing Kun's unhappiness, "Why are you ending your research?"

"I don't have a choice," Kun said unhappily and then continued with unease, "strange things have happened during my lasts two trips up the temple, and now I can't even assemble a team to go up with me, not that I blame anyone, I'm afraid to go back myself."

"Strange things?" Zuko questioned with interest.

"Destroyed equipment, mysterious accidents, and," Kun gulped visibly, "ghostly messages telling us to leave." Aang looked at Kun with concern as the man finished, "Some of the more superstitious believe that its the spirits of the Air Nomads, warding off trespassers."

"You don't believe that," Aang questioned hesitantly, "do you?"

"I don't know what to believe," the man answered gravely, looking down at the Avatar.

Looking away in thought for a moment, Aang smiled suddenly and looked over to Zuko saying, "How would you like to see the Southern Air Temple?"

Zuko was about to respond when Sokka approached, having overheard, saying, "No way Aang, we're headed to the South Pole, remember?"

"We need to do this," Aang responded determinedly as both Katara and Toph came over to see what was being discussed, "Kun is studying my people and trying to share his knowledge with everyone and something is trying to prevent that."

"I can't ask you to do this," Kun spoke up, "this temple spirit means business. It might be best if I just returned to Ba Sing Se with my findings."

"Temple spirit?" Toph questioned with surprise.

Aang looked up at Kun saying, "I'm the Avatar, the bridge between this and the spirit world. I've dealt with problematic spirits before and if anyone can solve this problem, I can."

Kun gave a worried smile saying, "Well, if you insist."

"So what do you say guys?" Aang said as he faced his friends, "Can we do this one thing before going to the South Pole?"

Katara looked troubled for a moment, not wanting to delay their original plans to go the South Pole. She missed her dad, gran gran, and she even looked forward to seeing Master Pakku again. But remembering everything Aang had been through since they were in the Fire Nation, she felt he deserved to do something he wanted to do, especially if it involved his people.

"Alright, I think we can afford one detour," Katara grinned at her friend.

"Katara, no," Sokka begged, "We've been sidetracked enough already."

Katara's glare towards Sokka prompted him to cross his arms and reply, "Well, I guess we could go for a little while."

"Great!" Aang said happily, "Toph, Zuko?"

"Lets do it," Toph replied, "Spirits don't scare me."

Zuko looked in deep thought a moment, before coming back to attention and shrugging, "Sure, why not?"

"One thing though," Katara said a little confusedly, "how are we going to get up there without Appa."

"Don't worry about your bison," Kun replied, trying to be helpful, "I'll make sure he's well taken care of and gets all the attention he needs. As far as getting up there goes, I think you'll all really enjoy the hike. The view is quite beautiful and it shouldn't take you anytime at all."

* * *

"That took forever!" Sokka moaned as he flopped onto his back to rest at the end of the trail. 

"And the view was not beautiful," Toph complained as she collapsed next to him.

After being geared up with supplies from Kun and saying goodbye to Appa, they had made the several day hike and had arrived at the Southern Air temple. The whole scene looked different to Sokka and Katara, who remembered the place being baron and covered with snow. The spring and summer plant growth still flourished in areas, though the falling of leaves and petals marked the beginnings of autumn, and it seemed a different, more pleasant place altogether.

"We finally made it," Aang said as he looked over the temple, then looking to Momo who perched on his shoulder, "We're back home."

* * *

**Author's Note: **As I informed you readers last chapter, I've been going back through my story making minor edits, and I've run into a problem. In chapter 10, there is a scene between Sokka and Ty Lee where Sokka forgives her for her past wrongs. Honestly, the more I think about this scene, the more upset I am with it. Sokka is not naturally forgiving, and I really let my desires for a happy ending get the best of me. I treated a discussion about the death of the Kyoshi Warriors in such an off handed manner that I'm left rather disgusted with myself. In light of this, I've changed this scene completely, as well as other parts of the chapter to accommodate the change. 

I know all the editing is really unfair to you readers; you shouldn't have to go back to reread chapters just because I messed up and didn't think things through. I'm hoping to learn from this experience and plan things out better for all future chapters.

As is probably obvious, I'm not exactly the most competent writer, so readers, if you think there are other instances of characters behaving out of character or if a scene just doesn't work, please let me know.


	15. The Temple Spirit part 2

"Okay, we're here," Sokka grunted as he dropped his pack in the place they had chosen for campsite and made to look around. Seeing nothing of interest, he looked at Aang pointedly, "Well I don't see any evil spirits around here, looks like its time to head back."

"Sokka, we just got here," Katara replied as she crossed her arms.

"Besides, everyone knows spirits only come out at night," Aang said matter-of-factly as he slung an arm around his warrior friend's shoulders and gave him a huge grin, "in the meantime we can check out the temple."

Rolling his eyes, Sokka gestured to the temple that towered above them, "You see one Air Temple, you see them all. Oh wait," he poked Aang in the chest, "we have seen them all."

Pushing Sokka's hand away, Aang walked past him laughing, "Zuko and Toph haven't. Come on, it'll be fun."

"I do have an appreciation for good architecture," Toph admitted with a shrug as she and Katara followed after Aang.

Zuko looked up the temple somewhat uninterested, sighed, and followed after the trio.

Turning back, Aang hollered, "Don't worry Sokka, I know what will cheer you up."

* * *

"Rematch!" Aang exclaimed, holding up a ball which inflated instantly in his hands. 

Zuko looked beyond Aang to the strange wooden pillars that stood up from the stone tiled patio. At either end off the large square of poles was an even larger beam holding up a square tile of wood, within which was a circular door.

As Sokka caught up with his friends, he looked from the Air Ball arena to the grinning monk in front of him spinning the ball on his finger.

"No way," Sokka said, spreading his arms out for emphasis, "last time we played I didn't even stand a chance."

"Come on," Aang begged, rolling the ball along his arms and using his airbending to spin it around his body, "I'll go easy on you this time."

"Fine," Sokka replied after a moment of thought, "But Katara's on my team."

"Hey, don't I have any say in this?" Katara asked, rounding on her brother.

"Well I get Zuko then," Aang replied to Sokka, gesturing to the firebender who raised a hand in protest.

Aang and Sokka sized each other up competitively as Katara and Zuko looked at them, reluctant at being pulled into the game.

"Ahem," Toph coughed to make everyone aware of her presence.

Realizing they had left Toph out of the teams, Aang spoke up, "Toph, you can be the...referee?"

"No thanks Twinkle Toes," Toph waved him off as she turned and walked away with Momo on her shoulder, "you guys play your silly game. I'm going to check out the temple."

"Alright then," Sokka snatched the ball from Aang, "We'll go first."

As Aang and Zuko walked to their side of the playing field to mount the pillars, Katara questioned Sokka, "Why did you choose me? Wouldn't Zuko be a better teammate?"

"Maybe," Sokka admitted as he climbed a pole on their side of the field, using the notches in the wood as foot holds, "But it's about time you and I did something together, you know, to bring honor to our tribe and all that. We need to show Aang and Zuko what members of the Water Tribe are made of before we return home."

Grinning at this, Katara accepted Sokka's hand as he helped her to the top of a pillar. Sokka could be such an oddball sometimes, but Katara saw straight through his talk of honor and nationalism, just over a game of Air Ball she practically laughed, to the fact that he just wanted to do something with her, as brother and sister.

"So how do we play?"

Gesturing to the playing field, Sokka explained, "The object of the game is to score seven points. Points are scored by throwing the ball through the other teams door. Once you catch the ball, you only get three steps with it before you have to get rid of it by either passing it back to me or bouncing off the poles."

"Okay," Katara answered in understanding, then smirking determinedly, "lets show them what the Water Tribe's made of."

On the far side of the playing field, Aang stood in a ready stance, legs spread between two poles and arms spread out to block anything. Zuko stood in the middle of the field with a similar stance, arms at the ready while Katara stood near him, prepared for the pass from her brother. Sokka stood in his position as the keeper of their goal, holding the ball in one hand ready to the start the game.

"Alright Sokka, lets see what you got!" Aang shouted from his goal post.

Nodding, Sokka tossed the ball into the air, drew his club from his side, and batted it forward with an aggressive grunt. Colliding with one of the pillars, the ball bounced between several poles and headed straight for Katara. Catching the ball and managing to keep her balance, Katara spun around to find Zuko standing over her, between her and the opposing goal.

Finding an opening through Zuko's outstretched arms, Katara leaped from her pillar to take two steps, dodging nimbly under Zukor's left arm and letting the ball fly. Bouncing off one pole to the another, the ball headed straight for the goal door. Creating a horizontal tornado with his airbending, Aang sucked the ball into his hands with ease.

Giving a triumphant grin, Aang yelled, "Zuko, get open!"

Nodding, Zuko made a head long dash across the wooden poles, careful to keep his balance, as Aang wound up and launched the ball.

Flying across the playing field, the ball rebounded off several pillars, dancing a triangle around Katara who, try as she might, wasn't fast enough to snatch the ball before it continued its path towards Zuko.

Sokka crouched low, ready to spring on the incoming projectile, but when Zuko unexpectedly made a side ward kick to launch the ball into the goal, rather than catching it to make a throw, Sokka found himself bringing his hands up to defend himself only to catch the ball and go flying through the goal door himself.

"Alright!" Aang cheered from his position, jumping in the air with excitement, "Nice one Zuko!"

Flashing a grin over his accomplishment, Zuko couldn't help but comment, "Is this all the Water Tribe has to offer?"

Giving Zuko and annoyed scowl as he returned to his side of the field, Katara ambled over to where her brother was climbing back up one of the posts.

"Sokka, what was that," she barked disappointedly, "You had it but gave up the point!"

"I know, I know," Sokka muttered, "I didn't see you back here helping me out!"

Letting out a frustrated growl, Katara turned and stocked back to the center of the field saying, "Just throw the ball."

Standing side by side with Zuko, both facing Sokka, Katara commented, "That was just a warm up, the game starts now."

"Suuure Katara," Aang hollered from behind, causing Katara turn around and glare in annoyance at her friend's cheekiness.

"Katara no!" Sokka yelped, having just served the ball as she turned away.

Too late, Zuko was already there, snatching the ball and taking a step before launching it towards Sokka, not wasting any time with bouncing it off the poles. Having time to prepare his stance this time, Sokka threw a foot forward onto one of the narrow platforms for balance as he caught the ball.

Holding it up, he yelled over to Katara, "Okay, new plan. Catch!"

Throwing the ball forward, Sokka ran after it, leaping from pillar to pillar. As Katara caught the ball, both her and Zuko watched dumbfounded as Sokka ran towards Aang.

"Pass!" Sokka yelped as he ran, waving his arms animatedly as he went.

Catching on a moment before Zuko, Katara took her allowed three steps and threw the ball down the field. Seeing what was going on, Zuko raced back to help Aang.

Catching the ball and giving it a small toss forward, Sokka leaped after it and smacked it hard with his club.

Airbending once again, Aang threw his hands forward to send a gust of wind to slow down the ball before it reached him. His airbending not being quite enough, the ball smashed into Aang's hands, causing him to reel backwards perilously before regaining his balance.

Aang gave his warrior friend a victorious smirk as he said, "Nice try Sokka, but you left your goal wide open."

Spinning the ball on his finger, Aang tossed it into the air and swatted with the backside of his hand. As the ball sped down the playing field, ricocheting off numerous pillars and seeming to pick up speed with each bounce, Sokka could only watch in dread as another point was going to be scored against him

Dashing back in a race to beat the ball to the goal, the ball's many rebounds giving her the needed time, Katara popped the lid from her water flask and brought the fluid out in one smooth movement, snatching the ball in mid air as it finished it's bouncing to head through the goal door.

Wrapping the water around the ball and sending it spiraling around her body to slow down its momentum, Katara grinned as she brought the ball to her hand.

Zuko and Aang's jaws dropped at this incredible save while Sokka's eyes bugged out for a moment before he recovered himself and shouted, "Nice save little sister, now we'll show 'em!"

Charging forward, Katara took one step and threw her body weight down, performing a cartwheel on the narrow platforms, taking her second step by landing with one hand and using the other hand to continue bending the water in an arc over her body, carrying the ball with it. Landing solidly on one foot with her third step, she launched the ball towards the opposing goal with her water whip.

Realizing bending was the best approach to the game, Zuko brought up a shield of fire to block Katara's throw. However, his barrier of flames proved unable to deflect the speeding projectile and the ball crashed into Zuko's forehead and bouncing straight up into the air.

Falling over backwards, Zuko managed to avoid the perilous fall to the ground below by catching his feet around one pillar and grabbing onto another with his hands.

Seeing his chance, Sokka made a running leap, clearing Zuko's fallen body and unleashing a powerful kick that sent the ball whizzing past Aang through the goal door.

"Nice one Sokka!" Katara cheered from down field as Sokka beamed with pride.

As he helped Zuko to his feet, the firebender rubbed his forehead where he had been smitten and commented, "Nice one, Sokka. But you know, your not going to win this."

"We'll see," Sokka grinned, "we'll see."

* * *

Tracing a stone wall with her hand, Toph walked slowly through the Air Temple. Stopping once and awhile to tap the stone, Toph felt the vibrations from her slight tapping, enhanced by her earthbending, and marveled as the temple unfolded in her mind. 

"I've always liked the Air Temples," she commented casually to Momo, who perched on her shoulder contentedly, "So much earth, carved and constructed so intricately; I can see all of it."

Continuing through the old hall, Toph entered a larger room and paused at the statue of an ancient airbender. Crossing the stone floor, she pressed her palm against the sculpture.

"My parents used to talk about paintings and art, but I never understood what they were talking about, but this," Toph commented again, "I can understand _this_."

Momo's ears perked up for a moment as Toph stood admiring the handiwork of the Air Nomads. Searching around the dark room with big eyes, letting out a soft trilling sound, the lemur scanned the shadows for the cause of the curious noise it had picked up.

"Leeeaaave."

Toph's relaxed hand tensed up on the statue, cracking the stone as the ghostly whisper blew by her ear.

* * *

Sprinting across the poles, Aang made a long, gliding jump to receive the pass from the Zuko. Sokka stood before the airbender, arms spread wide to deflect any attempted shot. Faking to the left, Aang airbended the ball around his back and shot the ball to his right. 

Bouncing off a pole, the ball headed straight for the goal, only to be intercepted by Katara as she caught the ball with a tendril of water. Covering her arm with the water while still holding the ball in a bubble of liquid, Katara skillfully flicked the ball away from her, hoping Sokka could receive the pass.

Anticipating this, Zuko managed to get between Sokka and the ball. Catching it while still on the run, Zuko shouted, "Aang!" as he brought his arm back and with a deep step forward launched the ball over to his team mate.

Fire flew behind the ball as it rocketed towards Aang at tremendous speed. Receiving the ball between his hands, keeping the air flowing around the orb as he passed it around his shoulders, Aang redirected the ball straight towards the goal.

Katara's bending proved no match for the speeding ball as it crashed through her defense, sending droplets of water in all directions as the familiar hinges of the goal door sang behind her.

"Nice shot, Aang," Katara grinned, bending her water back to her water skin, "But you know you can't win."

"That was some great defense," Aang returned the compliment with a humorous smile, "But I think we all know who the real victors will be."

* * *

Toph looked about, searching for the intruder through the earth. Momo let out a loud shriek and cowered behind Toph's head. Neither of them saw the shadow that darted away in the rafters above. 

"Who's there?" Toph asked, unable to hide the worry in her voice. Still sensing no ones presence, she stomped hard on the ground, sending a ripple through the stone floor allowing the whole room to come into sight. "Show yourself coward!" she roared, still unable to sense the presence of the stranger.

Her demands went unanswered. Momo lifted his head a moment, searching the room for the source of the voice.

"What is it Momo?" Toph whispered, hoping the lemur would warn her of any imminent danger.

Momo let out a quiet chirp as returned to her shoulder, gladly receiving the comforting pets from the earthbender.

Scanning the room nervously once more, Toph said, "Maybe we should go see what the others are doing."

* * *

"Six to six," Zuko said to Sokka as they faced each other in the center of the field, "Next point wins." 

Arms on his knees and standing in a crouched position, ready to dart forward to receive the ball, Sokka replied, "You know,it's not about who wins or loses."

Zuko raised an eyebrow at this, not expecting this kind of statement from Sokka, and asked, "Then what is it about?"

Sokka looked thoughtful a moment, then shrugged, "Never mind, it's definitely about winning."

Sokka dashed forward as the parting word left his mouth, his short speech on the morals of Air Ball distracting Zuko long enough to give him a head start.

Catching the ball, Sokka held his ground as Katara rushed past him and Zuko charged towards him. Faking left and right, pivoting on one foot between several pillars, Sokka watched over Zuko's shoulder as Katara struggled to get open, which proved very difficult as Aang nimbly moved with her.

Seizing the best opportunity presented, Sokka took two steps back, a move unexpected by Zuko, and sent the ball flying. Bouncing off several poles, the ball followed its intended course toward Katara, only to be intercepted by Aang's feet as he dove for the ball. Whirling his feet, Aang kicked out hard before he landed to send the ball back down the field to Zuko.

Zuko received the ball, launched a ball of flame in Sokka's direction to keep the warrior distracted, and brought his arm back for the final shot. But as the ball left his hand, Sokka, who had managed to evade Zuko's blast of flames, batted the ball back with his club, sending past Zuko to Katara.

Throwing an arm up and sending a tentacle of water snaking out into the air, Katara wrapped the water around the ball, swinging it down bellow her feet like a pendulum before bring it back up in a full three hundred sixty degree swing and letting it fly.

Aang leaped after the ball, prepared to toss it backwards, but the ball flew too fast as it slammed through the goal door, closely followed by Aang. Diving towards the ground head first, Aang tucked and rolled in midair, landing on his feet and performing a somersault landing.

"Woooo! Yeah!" Sokka shouted, "Water Tribe!"

"Aang, are you okay?" Katara asked worriedly as she climbed down the goal post and ran over to her friend.

"Yeah, fine," Aang said as he sat up in a daze, rubbing his head, "That was some shot."

Grinning, Katara replied, "Thanks, I thought it was pretty good myself."

"You guys are done with your game I take it," Toph said as she strolled up to Aang and Katara.

"Yeah," Zuko replied without emotion as he and Sokka made their way over, "It was a close game, but Sokka and Katara won."

"You better believe it," Katara flashed Zuko a grin.

"You guys didn't stand a chance!" Sokka exclaimed as he pointed at Aang and Zuko triumphantly.

"Yeah yeah, you guys won," Aang admitted humbly, "but don't get carried away, it was a tied game up until the end."

Shaking his head with jubilant domination, Sokka replied, "Whatever you want to tell yourself, Aang. Zuko knows we kicked your guys' butts."

"Don't worry about it Sokka," Zuko commented dryly, "we'll be even before the day is through."

"Speaking of which, we should probably head back to camp before it gets too late," Katara said, seeing the sun was on its trek down from the sky.

* * *

Sitting alone in camp, Katara sorted through the bags of food they had brought up the mountain with them, trying to get a meal together. Looking up from her work, she watched as Aang and Toph approached. 

"Hey you guys, find anything?"

"Nope," Aang replied as he collapsed on his sleeping bag, "It was probably just the wind that she heard."

"I know what a heard," Toph brought her foot down casually, bending the earth up under Aang, giving him a sharp nudge in the rear end.

Jumping to his feet and rubbing his soar behind, Aang scowled indignantly at Toph, catching giggle from Katara. Just then Sokka strolled into camp, carrying with him several pieces of firewood.

"There you are," Katara said without looking up from what she was doing, recognizing her brother's footsteps, then turning and looking disappointed, "Is that all you could find?"

"Hey, is it my fault there is no firewood around here?" Sokka replied defensively, dropping his meager load.

Arms akimbo, Katara looked at Sokka incredulously saying, "You and I both know there is plenty of wood to burn around here; we both saw it earlier."

"Katara, I'm telling you, there's no--" Sokka stopped in mid-sentence, bringing his hand up to his chin, "Unless...Zuko!"

As if on cue, Zuko walked into camp, carrying a load of wood stacked up to his chin. Setting the giant load next to Sokka's minuscule contribution, Zuko couldn't help but smirk at his friend.

"Thanks Zuko," Katara said as she stepped over to the older boy and glared at Sokka, "I'm glad I can rely on someone around here."

"Now we're even," Zuko taunted.

Seething inwardly, ignoring the fact that gathering firewood wasn't a contest, Sokka sat down heavily in a huff.

As Zuko started the fire so Katara could prepare the groups dinner, Sokka looked over at Aang and Toph and asked, "So what have you two been doing while I've been slaving away with camp chores?"

"Oh you know, this and that," Aang laughed as he played with Momo, bending a pebble around the lemur's head.

"We were checking the temple for spirits," Toph remarked conversationally from where she lay on her back.

"See anything?" Sokka inquired.

"No," Toph waved a hand across her blind face.

Palming his forehead, Sokka complained, "You know what I meant!"

Grinning at Sokka's reaction, Toph let Aang answer the water tribesman.

"Nope, nothing. We'll just have to wait until after dark to see whats going on."

* * *

Sokka's uproarious snoring was enough to drive anyone away. Tired of covering her head with her pillow, Katara sat up with start. She was surprised to find that the night was still young, and equally surprised to find Aang missing from camp. 

Careful not to wake anyone, though Sokka certainly deserved it wit the racket he was making, Katara carefully slipped from camp. After a short walk away from camp, she spotted Aang laying on his back in some grass, gazing up at the moonlit sky.

"Hey," Katara said, sitting down beside him.

"Oh," Aang yelped as he shook with shock, then smiled, "sorry, you startled me."

Smiling back, Katara pulled her knees into her embrace and asked, "What're you still doing up, I thought you went to bed with the rest of us?"

Scanning around the temple grounds, Aang replied, "I thought I should stay up a bit longer. You know, to check out any spiritual activity."

Looking with him, Katara replied, "Nothing yet?"

Aang laughed softly, "Nope."

They both fell into a comfortable silence after this, enjoying the simplicity of each other's company.

This was it Aang told himself after a long moment. Sitting under the stars at the Southern Air Temple; this is where he'd tell her.

"Katara," he ventured.

Katara didn't answer for a moment, and when Aang turn toward her he saw that her eyes were closed. Nudging her arm, Aang watched as she jumped slightly, blinking several times.

"Hmm, what?" She said as looked at Aang curiously.

Shaking his head with quiet laughter, he replied, "Get some sleep."

Katara opened her mouth to reply that she wasn't tired, yawned, changed her mind and asked, "What about you?"

"I'll be back in a little bit."

Smiling sleepily, Katara stood up and made her way back to camp. Aang continued gazing up into the night sky.

"Not yet," he told himself quietly.

It was easier to wait now, for some reason, feeling little pressure from his being the Avatar. There was no longer the fear that he might not get the chance to tell her, should the Fire Nation defeat him, and it was no longer a matter of if he could tell her, but when.

Returning to the campsite, Katara was greeted by Sokka's loud snoring. Settling down her in sleeping bag, she was startled by an extra loud snort from her brother.

"Sokka!" she whispered hoarsely.

"Huh, what?" Sokka mumbled as he ceased his snoring and came into wakefulness.

"Wake up and go back to sleep," Katara ordered as she buried her head in her pillow.

* * *

"Leeeaaave." 

Sokka rolled over in his sleep, sheltering his face from the wind.

"Leave or die."

Sokka's eyes flew open into wakefulness, his warrior's senses on the alert. At first he thought it was only the wind, but the whispered death threat definitely caught his attention. Careful not to move too much, he extricated his head from his sleeping bag to scan the campsite. The moon only barely showed through the clouds and Sokka couldn't make out much in the darkness.

"Zuko,"he whispered.

Opening his eyes slowly from where he slept not far from Sokka, Zuko asked, "What?"

"Shhhh," Sokka shushed, "I think somethings out there."

Yawning, Zuko shut his eyes, saying, "It was probably a dream. Go back to sleep."

"Leeeaaave or diiiieeee," the ghostly whisper returned, softly elongating each word spoken.

Zuko's eyes flew open and Sokka shot him a look that said I told you so.

"I think its coming from over there," Sokka gestured with his chin.

"Okay, do you have a plan?"

"I'm working on it," Sokka replied as he carefully reached out to grab his machete.

Seeing this, Zuko carefully picked up his swords from where they lay next to him, saying, "Okay, we'll charge on the count of three."

Sokka's eyes showed protest as he whispered, "I don't think that's such a great idea--"

"One."

"Zuko, seriously, I think we should--"

"Two."

"Alright fine."

"Three!"

Leaping from their sleeping bags, Sokka and Zuko made a head long sprint for the direction they thought the voice was coming from, each bearing their choice weapons. Unfortunately Zuko hadn't taken into account how difficult it was to get out of a sleeping bag so quickly, and the two immediately stumbled over, crashed into each other and went sprawling.

"Great plan--" Sokka began to complain before noticing the ghostly specters in front of him, their dark garments fluttering as they hovered on the edge of camp.

Letting out an aggressive cry, Sokka and Zuko untangled themselves leaped at the figures.

Zuko struck out, swinging both swords across, forward, up and down as he lashed out against the floating apparitions. The spirits drifted back, just out of reach of Zuko's sword as he struck out fiercely until finally with a cry of desperation Zuko's swords blended into an intricate dance and cut through the gliding figures.

Sokka jumped forward, striking out strongly with his sword, slashing at the beings that floated around him, always seeming to be out of reach. His sword flashed in the dim moonlight as he finally cut through the two ghosts that had been evading him.

"What is going on!" Katara cried as she stomped over to Zuko and Sokka, closely followed by a groggy Aang and Toph, "Is this your guys' way of getting even after the Air Ball game?!"

Ignoring Katara's outburst, Sokka knelt down and picked up the material that he and Zuko had shredded with their blades.

"Theres nothing here, it's just an old piece of cloth."

Looking at the cloth, Katara looked from Sokka to Zuko, recomposing herself after her sudden outburst and asked, "What happened?"

Before she could answer, a shadow fell over them from above them.

Standing in the shadows on the ruined temple wall above them, a figure, seemingly dressed the same as the mysterious things Zuko and Sokka had just shredded, spoke out in its deathly whisper, "I told you to leave! You've brought my wrath upon yourselves!"

"This spirit's mine," Aang shouted, fully awake now as he bounded up the broken wall.

The figure let out a high pitched squeak, sounding nothing like the icy whisper from before and more shocked than anything as they leaped from the edge, gliding out from the ruined wall to the main temple structure.

Seeing the figure go as he reached the place where they had been and wishing he had his staff to fly after them with, Aang jumped down from the wall top, slowing his fall with airbending. Reaching the bottom, he whirled his hands around his body to create an air scooter.

Aang's friends chased after him, unable to match his speed, as he pursued the flying spirit. Watching as the figure glided through the entrance to the temple, Aang followed suit and sped through the doorway.

Seeing the figure dash down the hall ahead of him, Aang leaped from air scooter and began traveling on foot, still running faster than his friends. Rounding corners and passing through various doors, Aang found himself barely able to keep up with the fleeing spirit.

Coming into one of the more run down parts of the temple, barely lit by the moonlight from various sky lights, Aang watched as the figure fled down a hallway. Stopping and unleashing a blast of air down the hall, Aang watched with satisfaction as his air blast collided with the figure, sending them crashing into a pile of wooden barrels.

Walking up to the crates, Aang was shocked to see that, as the figure picked themselves up from the wreckage, it was only a little girl not much younger than himself.

"Your just a little girl," Aang felt the need to point out his discovery.

The little brown haired girl frowned at him, brushing her bangs from her dirty face and dusting herself off.

Her facial expression contorted suddenly as she sniffed, rubbed her nose, and let out an enormous sneeze which sent her rocketing into the ceiling. Falling back to the ground, she picked herself up again and rubbed her head where she had collided with the ceiling, wincing with pain.

Aang's eyes widened with shock as he exclaimed, "You're an airbender!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Okay, I know at least one of you is shouting, "Heresy! Aang is the last Airbender!" This fact is understood by me, and I have some idea what I'm doing, so stay tuned for next chapter :)

On a second note, I know that isn't the same Air Ball game we saw in "The Southern Air Temple", but I had to take some liberties to make things a bit more interesting.

Lastly, I know this chapter was a bit longer than most. I guess there was just a lot of stuff I wanted to include and I wanted the 'commercial break' to be at this point. Hopefully everything was enjoyable.


	16. The Temple Spirit part 3

Katara, Zuko, Sokka and Toph ran up to Aang, stopping in there tracks in confusion as they noticed the little girl standing before them.

All at once Aang blurted out, "Are you really and airbender? Where did you come from? Where did you learn airbending? Are you all alone? Why did you--"

Katara interrupted Aang's onslaught by putting a hand on his shoulder and stepping forward, looking completely bewildered as she asked, "Who is she?"

"She's an airbender!" Aang declared excitedly, causing the rag clad girl to shy away and take a step back, "And-"

"Aang, I know your excited," Katara tried to calm him down, not sure what to make of the situation, "but I think you're scaring her."

Aang's huge grin moved from Katara to the brown haired, scruffy looking girl, who carefully stooped down to pick up her staff that lay in the rubble of wooden barrels, not taking her gray eyes off any of them.

Stepping forward, Katara said soothingly, "My name's Katara, and this Aang. What's your name?"

"I'm not scared of you," the girl said with uneasy defiance, bringing her staff up in a defensive gesture before brushing her bangs out of her eyes and answering warily, "I'm Anila"

Giving a reassuring smile, Katara asked, "would you like to come back to camp with us, I bet your hungry?"

Clutching her stomach, Anila looked from the comforting Katara to the grinning Aang, then to the indifferent Toph and finally the bemused Zuko and Sokka.

Seeing the girl's worried glance around, Katara spoke up, wrapping an arm around the shorter girl's back, "It's alright, no ones going to hurt you."

As Katara led Anila past everyone, it became evident that the girl really wasn't that little, but in actuality nearly Toph's height. It was probably her shy demeanor and slight build that made her look so small, Zuko mused. Toph followed after the two girls, trying to ignore Aang as he animatedly retold his meeting with the airbender girl.

Looking at Zuko, Sokka complained, "It is way too early in the morning for this," before both the elder boys followed after their friends tiredly.

* * *

The sun had yet to rise over the Southern Air Temple, but already its light began to illuminate the cloudy gray sky, revealing the Avatar and his companion's campsite. Wrapped up in his sleeping bag and sitting on a rock next to his friends, Sokka accepted a hot cup of tea from Katara as he tried to get comfortable, wishing he could just go back to sleep.

"I'm cold," Toph complained tiredly as she nudged Sokka with her elbow, "Share some of your sleeping bag."

"No way!" Sokka exclaimed, trying to scoot away from her but only succeeding in bumping into Zuko before he continued, "It's not my fault you didn't bring one."

"Here, you can use mine," Katara said, wrapping her sleeping roll around Toph. Taking a look around, she questioned, "Has anyone seen Momo?"

Setting down his morning meal, Zuko answered, "Probably out bug hunting."

Anila sat on a rock, content with wearing only her ragged clothing, eating through her third bowl of noodles. Sitting next to her in a meditative position, though clearly not meditating, Aang watched her intently, eagerly awaiting for her to finish eating. Anila seemed to notice this and eyed him suspiciously while she chewed her food.

Finally unable to contain himself, Aang asked, "So are you really an airbender?"

"Yeah," Anila mumbled through a mouthful of noodles with a shrug.

"Me too!" Aang beamed, "I thought I was the only one!"

Smiling shyly, Anila only nodded as she slurped up the last of her noodles.

"Want some more?" Katara asked gently as she got up from where she sat next to Aang.

"Mm-hmm," Anila nodded timidly.

As Katara scooped up some more noodles from the pot, Zuko yawned and elbowed Sokka in the side saying, "I think she eats more than you."

"Great," Sokka complained crankily, "another mouth to feed and less food for me."

"Food doesn't seem to do much for you anyway," Toph replied lazily, "No matter how much you eat, you're always still hungry. Might as well just not eat."

"Very funny" Sokka grunted as he took another sip of the body warming tea.

Fully awake in the excitement of discovering another airbender, Aang eagerly continued questioning Anila, "So are you the Temple Spirit that's been scaring the archaeologists away?"

"Is that what they call me?" Anila said with a small laugh as she accepted the bowl from Katara.

"But why would you scare them away like that?" Aang asked.

"And why did you threaten us," Toph questioned with concern.

Frowning, Anila looked at both Zuko and Sokka saying, "I was just protecting my home. I just wanted to be left alone, no thanks to you guys, you tore up my ghosts!"

"Ghosts?" Aang and Katara asked in unison.

Setting down her bowl, Anila stood up and brought her hands in front of herself, closing her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she reopened her eyes and brought her hands down and exhaled in the same moment. Her brow knit in concentration as she bent air up into Zuko's empty sleeping bag from where it lay nearby, sending it floating upwards and wiggling around in an odd dance, looking similar to the ghostly figures that Zuko and Sokka had defeated earlier.

Dropping her stance and the sleeping bag as well, Anila sat back down and picked up her bowl.

"That was great!" Aang exclaimed, "What else can you do?"

Looking slightly embarrassed, Anila replied, "Just that and some gliding."

"Why don't you have airbender tattoos?" Zuko asked suddenly, noticing the lack of blue arrows on the girls wrists and forehead.

Anila looked slightly confused at this and felt relief as Aang answered for her, "Only airbending masters have tattoos. I don't think she's a master yet."

Aang's last statement caught Anila off guard and her expression fell at this. It was true, she wasn't that great of a bender, only being able to use her gilder staff to do some shaky gliding and a few floating sheet tricks if she concentrated enough

"Wait wait wait," Sokka spoke up, "How long did you say you've been living here?"

Swallowing a mouthful of noodles, the airbender replied confidently, "My whole life."

"Right," Sokka said skeptically, "and what about your parents?"

Anila stopped bringing food to her mouth and lowered her chopsticks.

"Parents?"

"Your mom and dad," Aang said, "where are they? Are they airbenders too?"

Anila looked down at her bowl, obviously troubled by the matter, and softly replied, "I don't have any parents."

Zuko and Katara exchanged glances as Aang voiced their confusion, "If you don't have parents, then where did you come from?"

"I--" Anila stammered, looking up from her food to Aang's expectant face and around the group that all looked at her inquisitively, "I don't know! I'm just here, okay?"

Jumping to her feet suddenly, Anila threw her half full bull to the ground, snatched up her staff, and ran back to the temple shouting, "Just leave me alone!"

"What'd I say?" Aang asked, airbending to his feet and moving to pursue her.

"Let her go," Katara said gently, putting a hand on Aang's shoulder to stop him, "we need to talk about this first."

"What's there to talk about," Aang rounded on her abruptly with anger.

"Well first of all," Sokka said pointedly, "she was lying when she said she's lived here her entire life."

"No she wasn't," Toph argued, "everything she told us was the truth, I felt it."

"But that's impossible," Katara countered, turning to face Aang, "we didn't see any sign of her or anyone else when we were here less than a year ago."

Aang only nodded, seeing that it was true; Anila wasn't at the temple when they were there last winter.

"So she believes she's been here her entire life, even though she hasn't," Zuko concluded.

"And she doesn't even know who her parents are!" Sokka said,emphasizing the absurdity of the girl's story.

"Maybe she's an orphan," Aang tried to defend her, "Maybe--"

"Aang," Katara said gently, "that would mean at least one of her parents was an Air Nomad, and the Air Nomads have been extinct for one hundred years."

"You don't know that," Aang argued in vain, "some of them could have escaped, they could have hidden—"

"For a hundred years?" Zuko interrupted doubtfully, then ending as gently as he could, "Aang, you are the last airbender."

"Then was does that make her?" Aang demanded..

Silence passed between the group. No one had an answer to that question.

"Let's look at this logically," Sokka spoke up again, gesturing with his teacup, "The Air Nomads were all killed a hundred years ago. Aang survived only because he trapped himself in an iceberg. Now, completely out of the blue, an airbending girl shows up." Sokka looked around the group to see if anyone was following him, then realized he didn't have anything else to say and blurted out, "This is impossible, airbenders don't just randomly pop out of thin air!"

"Maybe they do," Aang said suddenly, all aggressiveness gone from his voice as he remembered the Spirit Avatar's parting message, "Before Le Jien died, he told me that he could bring the Air Nomads back. When I told him to prove it, he said it had already happened. Maybe...maybe this is what he meant."

"Wait, slow down," Sokka held his hands up, "you're telling me that this airbending girl is the product of some super evil avatar spirit?"

"Spirit Avatar," Katara corrected.

"Whatever," Sokka waved away Katara's comment and kept his doubtful stare on Aang.

"Maybe," Aang admitted.

"So..." Sokka replied, not sure if he was on the same track with everyone else or not, "Doesn't that mean we should definitely _not_ trust her?"

"Sokka, she's just a little girl!" Katara spoke out in Anila's defense.

"She's the same age as Toph and Toph is anything but a little girl."

"Watch it Snoozles," Toph growled, holding up her hand and gesturing with her fingers, "you were this close to unleashing my wrath."

"You don't know how old she is," Katara glared at her brother, "she looks younger than any of us."

"That doesn't change the fact that she might be the product of our enemy," Zuko argued, then turned to Aang, "Why would he just bring the airbenders back, and just a little girl at that?"

"He was pretty obsessed with balance," Aang reasoned, "and you can't have balance without all four nations."

"You can't be serious," Sokka replied with disbelief.

"I am," Aang spoke up, much calmer now, "It doesn't matter where she came from or how old she is, the fact of the matter is she's an airbender, like me." Looking from Katara's compassionate expression to Zuko's look of understanding, Aang focused his attention on Sokka and Toph, "I want Anila to come with us. She's obviously not an airbedning master and it's my job to train her. This could be the first step to rebuilding my nation."

"Aang, I have bad feeling about this," Sokka said slowly, looking at his friend seriously.

"Don't worry yourself about it, you've got me to keep you safe," Toph said, then turned to face Aang, "Go for it Twinkle Toes, we know what this means to you."

Grinning thankfully, Aang began to walk out of camp when Momo returned, gliding through the air and landing on the Avatar's shoulder.

"Come on Momo, there's someone you should meet."

* * *

Walking in the direction Anila had fled to, Aang ascended the steps that led to one of the many temple courtyards. Looking ahead, Aang could see Anila sitting alone on the steps next to the statue of his old master, Monk Gyatso, as she fidgeted with her staff.

"What do you want," she called in a disconcerted tone without looking up.

Momo took flight to glide over to the girl, startling her.

"What is that thing!" Anila shuffled backwards on her arms and legs as Momo landed in front of her.

"That's just Momo," Aand laughed, taking a seat net to her on the steps, "he's my flying lemur."

"Flying lemur?" Anila asked curiously, as she reached out timidly toward the creature.

Momo watched intently as her hand approached him and brushed his nose. Letting out a loud screech, her ran up the girls arm jumped from one shoulder to the other and back, perching comfortably on her shoulder.

Gritting her teeth in fright at the lemur's sudden movement and tensing up her shoulders, Anila cried, "He doesn't bite, does he?"

"No," Aang practically laughed, "Just scratch him behind the ear and you'll have a friend for life."

Doing so, Anila turned her head and watched as Momo took a hold of her hand and opened it to search her palm.

"Well, you might have to give him some food too," Aang admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Smiling at the lemur, then looking at Aang straight faced, Anila asked, "What did you want?"

Sighing, Aang explained, "For the longest time I had to accept that my people were gone and that they weren't coming back. I was the last airbender, the last remaining piece of a culture that had passed on without me." Looking Anila in the eyes, Aang continued, "But finding you has changed that. I'm not alone anymore and this is the first time that rebuilding my nation, our nation, has seemed possible."

"You want me to leave my home," Anila said suddenly with realization of where Aang was going, searching Aang's face and asking without looking for an answer, "you want me to leave the only life I've ever known!"

"Anila, please," Aang pleaded softly, "I can help you become an airbending master. I cant teach you the ways of our people. I can--"

"Stop it," Anila cried with a frown, "I...I just want to stay here."

"Please," Aang asked again, but not waiting to hear more, Anila got to her feet, leaving behind a disgruntled Momo, and ran off once again.

Sighing, Aang looked up at the statue of his old mentor and bowed his head sadly.

"What am I supposed to do," he sighed as he wrapped his arms around her legs.

"Be strong my son."

"Gyatso?!" Aang yelped as his head jerked upright, searching the statue's face for the source of the fatherly voice he remembered from a hundred years past.

Finding nothing, he bowed his head sorrowfully once again. Momo scampered over to sit on the boy's knee, chirping softly. Aang absently lifted a hand to pat the lemur between the ears.

* * *

Dark clouds circled in the sky as Momo glided into camp. Katara smiled seeing the lemur and looked up to see Aang approaching, without Anila and with his head downcast. As Sokka, Zuko and Toph went about cleaning up their camp to prepare for the hike back down the mountain, Katara stood motionless, her hair loops blowing in the wind slightly as her friend stopped before her.

"She said no," Aang murmured as he looked up to face her, sorrow clear in his expression.

"Aang," Katara spoke his name softly, wrapping her arms around him.

"I never thought meeting another airbender would feel like this," Aang cried into her shoulder, "it seemed like there was hope for my people, but I'm still all alone."

Katara's eyes closed tightly as she squeezed him in her embrace, understanding his anguish as she whispered, "You will never be alone."

"Hey, get back here!" Sokka exclaimed as his sleeping bag took flight and began to fly away.

Aang and Katara broke away from each other to watch as Sokka pounced on his bed roll shouting, "I knew she was trouble, where's that little airbender!"

Aang was about to point out that it wasn't Anila who was manipulating the sleeping bag when he found himself being whipped in the face hard by the wind. The gentle breeze that had playfully buffeted Katara's hair loops had grown in only a matter of seconds. Looking up, Aang watched as the gray storm clouds whirled around each other speedily in the wind.

"Whats going on!" Toph shouted above the roar of the gale, her clothing flapping wildly.

"I don't—Toph!" Sokka shouted as the wind that tore at their clothing began to drag the blind earthbender away.

Grabbing Toph's hand, Sokka grabbed onto a rock firmly to keep himself from being carried away in the same manner.

"Aang, do something!" Katara yelled as she frantically tried to rescue their belongings from being swept away while Zuko did the same, grabbing a hold of Momo so that the little lemur didn't blow away.

Aang brought his fists together to create a reverse vortex around himself and his friends, gritting his teeth as he struggled to maintain the bubble like shield that protected them from the storm. It would be no trouble simply protecting himself, air was his element after all, but creating something large enough to keep his friends safe, let alone keep their possessions from flying away, that was a different matter.

"We need to get out of here!" Sokka shouted, seeing that Aang's shield began to shrink as the wind's pushed against it from the outside.

Grabbing a pack of their belongings and throwing another one to Sokka, Zuko shouted, "We can take refuge in the temple, Toph, can you get us over there?"

Cracking her knuckles, Toph replied, "No problem," as she brought her hands up to bend the stone flooring up into a wall to block the wind.

As Aang quit his bending to take a pack, the stone wall began to shake and crack under the onslaught of the wind.

"We have to hurry," Toph cried as she kept her palms pressed against he wall to hold it up.

As everyone loaded up with everything they could carry, Toph brought her hands down from the wall and moved them in an arcing motion to the side. Obeying her command, the earthen wall rolled over to the side to lengthen the wind shield. Running along side the barrier, wind tearing at their clothing as it sped its way over the stone wall, Toph continued to stop periodically to elongate the wall until finally made it to the temple steps.

As everyone rushed in, Sokka dropped his bag and looked up at the ceiling warily. The whole temple seemed to be shaking.

"Is everyone okay?" Katara asked worriedly as she dropped her pack.

Aang and Zuko nodded as Toph asked, "Aang, what's going on out there?"

"How should I know," Aang exclaimed, looking down the corridor to see a large piece of stone crash into the open grounds outside the temple, "I've never seen anything like this."

"It's just a storm," Sokka reasoned, "just a normal mountain wind storm."

Aang looked at Sokka skeptically, "In all my time living here, I've never seen anything near this bad."

"Maybe it's what's her name that's causing it," Zuko thought aloud, then adding as he remembered, "Anila."

Aang's eyes widened as he took off down the corridor, calling out, "Anila!"

Running through the temple, Aang continued calling out the airbender's name, slamming doors open and running through hallways. Searching for her as fast as he could, but getting no reply, Aang skid by an open window where the wind blasted in. Returning, Aang looked out to a lower part of the temple that was partially destroyed.

Anila sat cringing in the corner of a ruined building frame with her fists pressed hard into each other, her knuckles bone white at the force with which she pushed them together. Tears streamed down the girls face as she tried to protect herself from the storm, failing miserably as the wind lashed out at her.

Leaping from the window, Aang whisked his arms about himself, manipulating the harsh winds around him. With the air currents so powerful, he didn't need his glider staff to be able to float threw the air on the tempest wind.

"Don't be afraid!" Aang called out as he landed lightly, controlling the gale to prevent himself from being carried away, "This is our element Anila, you don't have to be afraid."

Still shuttering in her corner of refuge, Anila watched through tear strewn eyes as Aang approached her, seemingly unaffected by the wind as it tugged gently at his clothing, where as it continued to attack her viciously.

Unable to see Aang's intense level of concentration, Anila continued to watch as he brought his hands together, pushing all the air away from himself and driving away the wind that assailed them.

Time seemed to stop for the brown haired girl as her hands dropped from their strenuous positions. The storm was gone in the pocket that Aang had created. She looked up at him with awe as she pulled herself to her feat.

"I'll come with you," she spoke softly as Aang looked at her longingly, "I want you to teach me."

* * *

The hike down the mountain proved exceptionally enjoyable for Aang. All along the way he relished in telling Anila about Air Nomad society, airbending, and other things any self respecting airbender should know. Anila tried to absorb everything Aang told her, though the older airbender talked so fast she could barely keep up with him.

As Katara, Aang and Anila walked ahead down the path, Zuko, Sokka and Toph walked back a bit, holding a private conversation.

"I guess she isn't so bad," Sokka said finally, watching as Aang and Katara conversed with the newest member to their group, "but still, something about her seems wrong."

"Give it a rest," Toph replied, "why don't you pick on someone your own size for a change."

"Don't even think about it," Zuko warned, catching Sokka's side ward glance.

"I wasn't," Sokka said seriously, "but don't you see what I'm saying Zuko? Something about her is--"

"I know," Zuko interrupted, "None of it makes any sense. And that storm...I think she's somehow connected to it."

"You two are too mistrusting," Toph spoke up, "give her a chance, she hasn't done anything wrong."

Nodding, Zuko and Sokka continued watching the three in front of them, each heading Toph's advice and resolving to treat the newcomer more considerately. After all, she was just a little girl.

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot! Wait until you meet my flying bison, Appa!" Aang exclaimed excitedly to Anila as they walked through the gates of the town where Appa was resting.

"Flying bison?" Anila questioned curiously.

"You'll see," Aang grinned.

Running into the stable, Aang shouted, "Appa! How've you been buddy?" as he leaped onto the bison's head to embrace his pet.

Walking into the stable behind Aang, Anila's face broke into wide eyed shock as she looked upon the gigantic creature before her.

"Appa, Anila. Anila, Appa," Katara gestured from the bison to the frozen airbender with a grin.

Leading his bison forward, Aang spoke to Appa saying, "This is the newest member of our family. She's an Air Nomad, like us."

Appa eyed the paralyzed girl, sniffed, let out a low moan, and licked the girl from her feet to her head, covering her in drool. Anila let out a shriek of surprise, cringing on the floor and hiding her face before she realized the beast wasn't going to eat her.

Retracting her arm, Anila looked at the bison as it seemed to smile at her with its tongue sticking out of its mouth slightly. Smiling and working up her courage, she reached out and pet him on the muzzle.

* * *

"So this little girl, this _airbender,_" Kun marveled, "She's the Temple Spirit that scared my team and I away?"

"That's right," Aang laughed, watching as Anila explored the airbender museum with curiosity.

"This is a miracle," Kun whispered, managing to find his voice.

"It is," Aang replied, "and it's the first step to rebuilding my nation."

Smiling fondly at the young Avatar, Kun replied, "Lets hope so."

Watching as Anila paused to admire a girl's Air Nomad clothing, seeing her brush the material wistfully, Aang asked, "Do you think it would be alright if..."

"I don't see why not," Kun replied, smiling kindly, "It's the least I could do for the trouble you've gone through."

* * *

"Nice outfit," Sokka commented as he hefted a bag of supplies into Appa's saddle, hoping to break the ice with the young airbending girl.

"Thanks," Anila smiled shyly at the intimidating warrior as she climbed aboard Appa.

Wearing her new yellow and orange clothing, her face washed and her brown hair combed, Anila looked like a true airbender, with the one exception of her missing arrow tattoos. Holding Momo in her lap, Anila smiled happily as she pet the lemur.

"Thanks for everything," Aang said as he bowed to Kun, "Taking care of Appa, fixing my staff, the supplies-everything."

"It was no trouble Avatar Aang," Kun replied as he bowed in return, "you've solved the mystery of the air temple, and now my archaeologists and I can return to our work."

Smiling, Aang turned and jumped up onto Appa, calling, "Everybody on board?"

"All here and accounted for," Katara replied.

"Alright then, yip yip!"

* * *

**Authors Note: **Just for clarification, in case anyone is misinterpreting, Aang is not 'in love' with Anila in any romantic sense. He does, however, have an instant attachment to her because shes is an airbender and she represents his hope that the Air Nomads can come back. Hopefully that makes sense and I did his character at least some justice in this respect.

I spent several hours doing some research for this new character's name alone, searching various Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese names and, finding none that I liked, finally settled on 'Anila' (pronounced ah-nee-la) which means "Child of the Wind" in Sanskrit.

As a final note, Anila's character was somewhat (very loosely) inspired by the Avatar TCG character "Malu the Ghost Witch", however, she is not the same character.

Stay tuned for next chapter when our heroes finally arrive at the South Pole :)


	17. The Prankster part 1

Appa flew over the dazzling ocean as he headed for for the white landmass before him. The Avatar and his companions had finally made it to the South Pole after weeks of travel.

"There it is!" Sokka exclaimed as he pointed over the edge of the saddle, "Katara, look!"

Katara quickly crawled up to the front of the saddle with Sokka and looked ahead awestruck. Where once was their tiny village now stood the beginnings of a magnificent city, rivaling that at the North Pole. Instead of tiny igloos and tents, great structures of ice and snow now stood.

"It's so different," Aang said from where he steered his bison, looking out over the circular city surrounded by a fortified wall of snow.

"You guy's have to see this!" Katara said as she broke away from the view to face Toph, Zuko, and Anila.

"C-c-can't s-s-see," Toph chattered from where she sat shivering in the saddle, too cold to make a sarcastic remark about her blindness.

Sokka turned to eye Toph saying, "How can you be cold in these great parkas Kun gave us? I think they're even Water Tribe made."

Toph didn't reply as she continued shivering in her blue coat. Zuko sat next to her, not looking nearly as cold but disgruntled by the temperature nonetheless. Momo shivered nearby, try to keep warm by sitting in the firebender's lap. Anila seemed to be the only one the weather didn't bother, and Katara looked at her with concern because she was also the only one without a parka with the exception of Aang.

"Anila, aren't you cold?"

The girl shook her head as Aang jumped up into the the saddle laughing, "We're Air Nomads, we're comfortable in any climate."

Katara nodded at this, recalling how Aang had been just find in his loose clothing last time they were in the South Pole. This thought stopped her; had it really been less than a year ago that she met him? It felt like he had been around her whole life.

"Aang, theres a ship below us and they're waving us down," Sokka exclaimed, as he looked over the side of the saddle, "we should land."

"No problem, Sokka," Aang replied. Turning to face Anila, he asked with a grin, "Ready to land your first bison?"

* * *

Holding Appa's reins tensely, Anila let out a sigh of relief as the bison planted his feet firmly on deck of the ship.

"Dad!" Sokka and Katara suddenly cried in unison as they recognized their father in the crowd of water tribesmen on the ship's deck.

"Sokka, Katara," Hakoda said with smile, wrapping an arm around each of his children as they ran up and threw themselves upon him.

They hadn't seen their father since the reclamation of Ba Sing Se when they had successfully warded off the Fire Nation fleet that attempted to join Azula and reinforce the Fire Nation's hold on the Earth Kingdom's capital city. The reunion was short lived however and the Water Tribe siblings and their father parted trails soon after.

"Dad," Katara laughed with joy as she embraced her father.

"I'm so proud of you two," Hakoda said as they separated, keeping a hand on each of his children's shoulder.

"Master Pakku!" Aang exclaimed as he slid off Appa and greeted his former teacher.

"Well, if it isn't my old student the Avatar," Pakku answered with a grin, "Please tell me you've managed to at least master waterbending by now."

"Of course," Aang replied with a cheesy grin, bending the ocean water up over the ship's railing, sending it whirling around his body and then streaming back into the sea, earning a nod of approval from Pakku.

Anila hopped off Appa and stood by the bison's side, shyly avoiding the looks of the ships crew and looking out on the city as the boat passed through its main canal. Zuko helped Toph down onto the ship's deck and seemed to take interest in the city as well.

Shuffling her feet awkwardly, Toph stood next to Anila muttering, "It's bad enough that its so cold, but no earth? How can anyone live out here!"

Zuko was about to reply when Hakoda noticed him for the first time, addressing him with surprise, "Fire Lord Zuko, I had no idea you'd be gracing our tribe a visit."

Hakoda had met Zuko briefly during the reclamation of Ba Sing Se. At the time Zuko, along with his uncle, had recently been accepted into the Avatar's group and Hakoda had readily given his trust to the teen when he warned the chief and his men of an imminent attack from the Dai Lee. Zuko had impressed him in both cunning and as a warrior, earning the water tribesman's respect.

"Please, just Zuko," the firebender answered humbly with a bow, "my uncle as taken over as regent of the Fire Nation."

"I hope he is doing well. You've caught us at a bad time, but if there's anything we can do to accommodate you--"

"That won't be necessary," Zuko spoke up respectfully, looking out at a section of the city that seemed to be under construction as the ship sailed through the city's central canal before he continued, "It looks like you and your men have quite a bit of work on your hands."

"Yes," Pakku explained in a business like manner as he joined the conversation, having never met Zuko, "we were hit by a terrible earthquake a week ago. We've had to put off the construction of the city to repair what we've already built."

"I'd be honored if I could join your crew," Zuko replied with determination as he turned away from viewing the construction to face the two leaders.

Pakku glanced at Hakoda, who nodded with a smile, and then replied, "Most of the work is done by my waterbenders and I, but I'm sure Chief Hakoda and his men could use your help with the whalephant bone building frames."

Zuko glanced at the pile of massive bones that was part of the ships cargo and nodded.

"I want to help to," Sokka spoke up, not wanting to be left out, "This is my home; I should be a part of this."

Nodding proudly at both teens, Hakoda smiled and said, "We can always use a pair of strong men to help out."

* * *

"Gran Gran!" Katara cried as she rushed into the home of her grandmother.

"Katara?" the old woman questioned as she turned from the stew she was preparing, then exclaimed as recognition dawned on her face, "Katara!"

The two met in the middle of the room, wrapping their arms around each other tearfully as Toph, Aang, and Anila trooped into the room to join them. Momo sat on Toph's shoulder, looking around the room as they entered.

"It's been so long," Kanna said happily as she held her granddaughter at arms length, "I knew you would succeed, and I knew you'd come home safe."

Smiling, Katara introduced her friends, "Gran Gran, these are my friends. You remember Aang," she said, gesturing to the grinning airbender, "and this is Toph and this little one is Anila."

"I'm not that little," Anila frowned indignantly causing both Katara and her grandmother to smile.

Glancing around, Kanna looked worried suddenly as she asked fearfully, "Where's your brother? Where's my Sokka?"

"Oh, he's alright," Katara said comfortingly, "He's out working with Dad."

Frowning at this, though thankful that nothing had befallen her grandson, Kanna answered, "Didn't even come by to say hello to his grandmother, just wait until I get my hands on that boy."

Laughing at this, Aang spoke up, "Anila and I are going to find a place to work on her airbending, we'll see you guys later."

Katara waved goodbye as Aang and Anila left while Toph grunted sat down heavily on a comfy mat she discovered in the corner of the room. Momo, sat with her, curling up contentedly in the girl's parka. Katara noticed Toph's quietness and looked at the girl worriedly.

"You okay Toph?"

"I hate this place," Toph complained miserably, "I can't see anything and I'm freezing!"

Trying not to laugh at girl's discomfort, Katara said reassuringly, "It's not that bad, maybe we can--"

"I hope I'm not intruding," Master Pakku interrupted respectfully from outside the entrance to Kanna's home, waiting respectfully to be offered admittance inside.

"Master Pakku," Kanna greeted with her back turned to him, laboring once again over her pot of stew, "Please, come in."

"Kanna, we've been over this, you can stop addressing me that way," Pakku said a little frustrated as he stepped inside.

"Whatever you say," Kanna answered with a smirk, hiding her amusement and adding, "Master Pakku."

Rolling his eyes in frustration, Pakku turned and said, "Katara, I was hoping you'd come with me to demonstrate a few waterbending techniques to some of my newer pupils."

"Of course," Katara beamed, swelling up with pride at being recognized as a waterbending master by her hold teacher who had once looked down at her simply because she was a girl, "That is, if it's okay with Gran Gran."

Kanna turned from her cooking to look from Pakku to her granddaughter, then smiled saying, "Have fun, and try not to be too rough on this old coot."

Grinning, Katara left her grandmother's home trailed by a defeated looking Master Pakku.

Ladling some soup into a bowl, Gran Gran Kanna shuffled over to where Toph sat and said, "Hold out your hands, dear." Lifting up her arms, causing Momo to jump up indignantly and find a new place to sleep, Toph slid her hands out of the sleeves that were way too long for her and accepted the bowl of soup as Kanna continued, "This will warm you up in no time."

Toph brought a spoonful of the stew up to her mouth as Katara's grandmother returned to her work. Her face scrunched up with disgust as she pallidly forced herself to swallow.

"How does Sokka down this stuff," she muttered to herself as her whole body convulsed from the taste

* * *

Katara and Pakku walked side by side down the snowy avenue that bordered one of the canals on their way to the South Pole's first waterbending dojo.

Waterbending seemed to have vanished from Pakku's mind however and Katara listened with amusement as he complained, "I don't know what it is with that woman. I tried to make peace with her, but she just seems to ignore me."

Laughing to herself, Katara replied, "I've never seen Gran Gran joke like that—I think she likes you."

Pakku looked down at the young waterbender skeptically, then forced a smile, "You think so?"

Katara would have replied if she hadn't been busy watching a waterbender her own age practicing his bending out on one of the many training grounds Pakku had established.

Noticing Katara's distraction, Pakku bent over, speaking into her ear, "Looks like you've got someone on your mind as well."

"What?" Katara said suddenly, blushing, "No, I was just—he's a very skilled bender."

"Yes," Pakku said seriously, standing at his full height again, "Aside from you, he's one of the best students I've had."

"I don't remember him from the North Pole," Katara said as she rested her arms on the snow wall that separated the path from the canal, watching as the waterbender bent a long stream around his body, stepping forward and leading the rope of water through his hands, freezing it as he did so to create a sword of ice, "What's his name?"

"His name is Kinto," Pakku explained as the subject of their discussion began swinging his ice blade, "We met him at an Earth Kingdom port during our voyage down here. He says his parents were killed in the war and that he had been a traveler, jumping from ship to ship trying to return home to the North Pole. When he met us, he decided that the South Pole was just as good. I was immediately impressed with his bending skills, but was disappointed in his...lack of focus."

"Lack of focus?" Katara questioned, looking at Pakku curiously.

Sighing, Pakkua replied, "I just wish he would spend more time helping out with the needs of the tribe than he does with all his joking around." Katara nodded, though she didn't really understand, and was surprised when Pakku asked, "Would you like to meet him?"

"Sure," Katara grinned with a nod.

As they walk over the ice bridge that crosses the canal, Pakku and Katara approach the waterbender's back as he moves through an elaborate bending technique, bending liquid water around like a long whip.

"Kinto, I want to introdu--" Pakkua began to greet before being splashed across his head with Kinto's whip.

The water froze after hitting the watebending master's head and formed into what looked like either a crazy ice wig or a straw hat made of ice. Either way, Katara burst out laughing and Kinto turned to face the two that had approached him, grinning mischievously.

Scowling, Pakku bent the ice back into water and cast it down at his sides in the form of ice shards as he growled, "I'll leave you two alone then."

"That was hilarious!" Katara laughed after Pakkua had left, grinning at Kinto as he grinned back, "I'm Katara by the way."

Kinto's grin vanished as he looked at her disapprovingly and replied, "Oh, _you_."

Looking at him in confusion as he returned to his bending, Katara questioned, "What's wrong?"

"You're the waterbending prodigy Master Pakku raves about," Kinto explained as he dropped out of his stance and looked at her pointedly, "Everyone knows only men can be waterbenders. Women with the gift are meant for healing."

Scowling now, Katara crossed her arms and spoke angrily, "That's not the way things work anymore, even master Pakku accepts that."

"Master Pakku is a fool," Kinto laughed, "and you've made him just as backwards thinking as you are."

Enraged by Kinto's remark, Katara brought her hands up speedily, sending the icy ground beneath him up and, as it wrapped around him, confined him in a blanket of ice that pinned his arms so that he couldn't bend.

Squirming furiously for a moment, Kinto suddenly began laughing and looked at Katara saying, "That was pretty good. I'd teach you some of my own tricks, but you're still just a girl."

Turning her back on him, Katara gave one last flick of her rest to send a flurry of snow cascading down on him, covering everything but his head.

"Have fun getting out of that," Katara laughed nastily as she made her way to meet up with Pakku again, finding the pig headed waterbender's subjugation refreshing after the insults he had thrown at her.

* * *

"Alright, lift it up!" Hakoda's voice ordered.

Sokka and Zuko heaved up the massive bone ceiling frame with the help of several other water tribesmen, some their own age and some much older, using ropes and pulleys. Hakoda joined them, always taking part in average man's work despite being a chief. That's how the Southern Water Tribe worked; they had a distinct leader, but when it came to getting the job done everyone helped out. Working together, they hoisted the animal bones into place.

A crowd of children that watched the men's work cheered, but suddenly cried out as one of the men took a misstep backwards, twisting his ankle and falling over, releasing his hold on the rope and causing the whole structure to jerk threateningly.

Sokka and Zuko grit their teeth, pulling hard on the same rope to keep the bone structure from collapsing.

"I've got this one," Sokka said, adjusting his feet so that he could maintain his hold without Zuko, "Get to the other rope!"

Zuko rushed over, grabbing hold and straining to pull its weight. Sokka slid forward in the snow but managed to hold his ground as Zuko hauled the other rope, bringing the ceiling frame back into place.

"Okay, get this thing secured," Hakoda ordered.

A group of water benders rallied at his call and, striking their bending stances, began bending from the piles of snow that had been transported to the construction site. Soon the building frame stood with only the support of the ice and snow.

Releasing the ropes and hand holds the men had used to position and hold up the bone structure, the men took a step back to admire their craft work. The crowd of young boys and girls, too young to help in the construction, cheered at the men's success.

Hakoda placed an arm on both Sokka and Zuko's shoulders, praising them proudly, "Quick thinking you two, thats just the kind of initiative we need around here."

Sokka smiled up at his father, overjoyed at making his father so proud, and even Zuko couldn't help but smile. It wasn't often that he received this kind of praise. It felt good.

* * *

"Okay, ready to learn some airbending?" Aang asked with a grin, to which Anila smiled and nodded eagerly.

They had come to an open, yet private area in the city with which to practice in. Surrounded on three sides by buildings of snow and with the third side giving an open view of one of the canals, Aang felt it was an ideal training ground.

"Okay, the first step to airbending is..." Aang said enthusiastically before trailing off and scratching his head with one hand, "hmm, what is the first step?"

Anila looked at him incredulously, and when he glanced at her she quickly diverted her gaze to examine her air bending staff.

Seeing this, Aang spoke up, "Ah yes, the first step to airbending is to have your staff."

Looking at Aang like he was crazy, she held up her staff, making sure Aang wasn't blind.

"Okay, step one complete," Aang said, grinning awkwardly and wracking his brain for the memories of his own training so long ago, "Step two is...step two is that we need to meditate."

Both master and student sat down and folded their legs. Anila looked expectantly at Aang as he closed his eyes and began his meditation.

"Uhm, Aang?" she asked timidly.

"Hmm?" Aang answered, opening one eye to look at her.

"Why are we meditating?"

"Oh, sorry," Aang grinned sheepishly, realizing he hadn't explained that part, "we meditate to clear our minds of our thoughts and negative feelings. We need to empty our minds so that they can float free with our element, air." Closing his eyes again, Anila watched as he breathed in saying, "Let the air come in," then exhaled, "and let it flow out, carrying with it all your troubles."

This seemed like a strange way to learn airbending, but Anila closed her eyes anyway and began her meditation. Peaking an eye open, Aang watched carefully to see if she was following his instructions. He honestly had no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded good and he hoped she'd buy it. Glad to see her sitting solemnly, Aang closed his eyes, figuring it wouldn't hurt to do it himself.

Anila peaked an eye open to see if Aang was actually meditating. It looked like it, the way he breathed in and out steadily. She honestly couldn't feel any connection with her element through the meditation, but not wanting to doubt Aang's word, she closed her eyes again to resume the breathing exercise.

No sooner had she done this when Aang suddenly exclaimed, "Okay, step two complete."

"That wasn't very long," Anila said with confusion as Aang leaped to his feet, taking up his staff.

"Now now, don't question your Sifu," Aang spoke up as he moved over to the open end of their training ground. Building up several piles of snow, he returned and said, "Now we can get to the bending. Watch closely."

Holding the center of his staff with one hand and the end with his other, Aang jumped a short distance straight up, slid his hand down the staff to meet the other, and brought his staff down forcefully. A vertical wave of air shot out and collided with one of the snow piles he had created, decimating it.

"Now you try."

Stepping forward, Anila placed her feet in what she hoped was the right stance. Looking up at the snow pile she was to knock down with uncertainty, she took aim, gave a small jump, and swung her staff downward. Nothing happened.

"That's okay," Aang said reassuringly, but unable to hide his disappointment, "try it again." Anila did so, but with the same result. Twisting his mouth with thought, Aang continued, "Maybe we should try something else."

But everything they tried delivered the same results. Anila couldn't use her staff to launch an overhand draft, an underhand draft, or even a horizontal slash of air. Whirling his hands around each other, Aang showed her how to create a miniature air scooter in his hand. Anila tried the same, but with no results spawning in her empty palm. Aang tried demonstrating shooting a simple breeze from his hand. Anila showed some promise here, creating light breeze, but only after multiple attempts and with extreme concentration.

"Are you sure you're an airbender?" Aang finally asked, unsure what to make at the girl's incompetent bending.

"Of course!" Anila cried with defeat, trying viciously to airbend but with little results.

"It's okay, I'm sorry," Aang apologized for his rudeness, "Just keep practicing."

Sighing, Aang bent up a chair of snow to sit in. Watching Anila pathetically try to airbend was exhausting.

"Yeeowch!" he exclaimed, jumping up just as he sat down and rubbing his soar hindquarters.

What was his soft cushion of snow was now pillow of icicles. Uproarious laughter met Aang's ears and he whirled around to see a water tribesman, slightly older than himself, rolling on the ground with laughter.

Stomping up to the intruder, Aang growled, "That wasn't funny."

"Haha—I'm sorry-hehehe—no really I'm-ahaha," the teen laughed before shaking himself and recomposing his expression and holding out his gloved hand, "You're right, I'm sorry. My name's Kinto, no hard feelings, alright?"

The tribesman's hand greeting seemed odd to Aang, but he reached forward to take his hand anyway. He suddenly recoiled with shock as the solid feeling hand dislodged itself from Kinto's sleeve.

Kinto fell over with laughter once again, shouting, "You should have seen the look on your face!"

Aang couldn't help but chuckle as he bent the fake hand made of snow from the mitten and return it to it's owner, saying, "If you thought that was hilarious then you'll love this!"

Aang whirled has hands and bent up a pile of loose snow around Kinto, leaving him looking like a snow man with only his face uncovered.

Looking down at himself, Kinto laughed, "Hey, you're pretty good! Want to prank some of the villagers with me?"

Aang grinned; this would be fun.

Suddenly remembering Anila, he turned back to her and said, "Keep practicing Anila, I'll be back in a little bit."

Dropping out of her stance, Anila replied miserably, as Aang walked away, "Okay...Aang."

Shaking herself, she put on a determined face and began trying to bend again. She would prove to Aang that she could do this. Another meager blast of air flew from her hands. Well, she'd try at least.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hakoda's previous encounter with the Avatar's group during the reclamation of Ba Sing Se is heavily inspired by (if not directly related to) the event in Wren Sharpbeak's "Book 3: Fire" series. While my story is not intended as a sequel to hers, I thought this particular aspect of her story really fits well into the history behind mine. If by chance you haven't read her stories, you need to stop reading mine right now and don't come back until you've read hers; they're incredible.

On a second note, the answer is yes, Kinto is directly inspired by the Avatar TCG, so much so that I even shamelessly stole his name. While he is not the exact same character, he is quite similar.

Third note, for those of you who are worried over the sudden inclusion of new characters, I'll tell you that this will be the last one for awhile. I don't like the idea of introducing him right after bringing Anila into the story, but this is the only time I could fit his introduction into the plot.


	18. The Prankster part 2

Peaking over the snowy wall that ran along the canal, Aang and Kinto watched as a man and woman began crossing one of the bridges that passed over the waterway. Ducking down and grinning mischievously, the two boys made silent countdown and then twisted their hands and brought their palms down flat, bending the middle of the ice bridge into water below their victims' feet.

Rewarded with shouts of surprise and loud splashing, both Aang and Kinto dashed across the bridge, leaping across the newly made hole and looking down at the floundering couple as they fled the scene.

Rounding a corner, they came to a halt and burst out laughing.

"Did you see the looks on their faces?" Aang laughed as he kept himself from falling over by planting his palms on his knees, propping himself up.

"Priceless!" Kinto snorted, wiping at a teary eye from laughing so hard.

"So who's next?" Aang asked with a grin as they both sobered up from their giggle fits.

Kinto raised a hand to his chin and put on an expression of mock thoughtfulness, then declared, "I've got it!"

Approaching one of the construction sites in the city, Aang and Kinto hid a short distance away from of the young waterbenders who practiced building ice fortifications. They were obviously new to bending and had trouble with the simplest techniques, making them the perfect prey for the two mischief makers.

As one of the students built up a wall of ice, Aang watched as Kinto, remaining hidden, brought his arms up and back down to knock over the snow mound. Looking confused, the other waterbender tried once more to bend only to have the snow rise up and fall upon himself through Kinto's manipulations.

Grinning at this, Aang watched as another young student tried to bend some snow up to form a pillar. Easily counteracting the student's bending, Aang liquefied the snow and sent it flowing around her, much to Kinto's amusement.

"Uh, Sifu Katara!?" the young waterbending pupil asked frantically, afraid to move as the water flowed around her.

Aang was shocked to see Katara racing forward from seemingly nowhere and immediately stopped bending as she checked on the student. Watching as the water fell around her pupil, Katara looked around and caught site of Aang and Kinto hiding nearby.

"Aang, what're you doing!" she roared as she marched over to confront him.

Kinto's eyes grew wide at seeing Katara stomping forward, remembering their earlier encounter, and quickly said, "I'll see you later, Aang," before dashing away.

Aang watched confusedly as Kinto ran off just as Katara came to a furious halt in front of him.

"What were you doing with that guy? Can't you see these kids are practicing?"

"Kinto and I were just having some fun," Aang replied holding his hands up disarmingly, then insisted, "we won't do it again."

"I don't want you hanging around him," Katara scowled pointedly, crossing her arms, "he's troublemaker and a jerk."

"He's not that bad, he-" Aang began, stopping in mid sentence when Katara's frown didn't waver, "Alright, fine, I'm sorry for making a new friend and having fun."

Rolling her eyes, Katara spoke up in frustration, "Shouldn't you be teaching Anila anyway?"

Letting out a long sigh and running a hand over his bald scalp, Aang replied, "I was, but teaching someone bending isn't nearly as easy as I thought it would be. I can't seem to teach Anila anything and it's painful just watching her try."

Katara's expression softened at Aang's disappointment as she offered, "Take it from me, teaching someone bending is anything but easy. But you can't give up on her just because she's having trouble."

"I know," Aang said as he looked away, disappointed in himself, then returned his gaze to Katara and asked hopefully, "Any teaching advice for a beginner?"

Smiling, Katara replied, "Praise her for what shes doing right, even when she fails. Be gentle when you tell her what she needs to improve on and never stop encouraging her."

As if to demonstrate the point, Katara called over to to her student who had just succeeded in building a pillar of ice, "Great job Kira, I think that's your best yet!"

The young waterbending girl grinned proudly at her teacher before returning to her practice.

"Seems to work well for you," Aang said with a smile, noticing the student's cheerful look.

"And it worked well _on_ you," Katara grinned teasingly.

"Wait, so all those times we trained together, you were just being nice?" Aang questioned, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"I wasn't just being nice," Katara defended seriously, "I meant everything I said and I know hearing the praise made you work all the harder at mastering waterbending."

"I guess so," Aang admitted with a smile.

"Just give her time," Katara said with an encouraging smile, "You had a much easier time mastering the elements because you're the Avatar. Remember how long it took me to learn the water whip from that scroll?"

"The scrolls!" Aang said excitedly as he remembered the airbending scrolls he had purchased in the Fire Nation, "Katara, you're a genius!"

As Aang dashed off to fetch his airbending scrolls, Katara called after him, "Don't forget, positive reinforcement!"

* * *

Toph lay on a mound of animal furs in Kanna's home, completely bored and wishing she had something to do. Katara's grandmother had left and, unable to 'see' with her earthbending because of the lack of earth, Toph retired her other senses and thought about all the places she'd rather be than the cold emptiness she felt around her.

Momo sat next to her, lounging on his back and eating from a bowl of dried sea prunes. Popping one after another his his mouth, he munched on the delicious treats with satisfaction. After a few mouthfuls, he noticed Toph sitting next to him, not touching the food that Kanna had provided. Sensing her discomfort, Momo grabbed a sea prune and crawled onto the blind earthbender's chest.

"Not now, Momo," she said, lazily raising an arm to shoo him away, "I'm trying to--"

She was interrupted as the lemur thrust his little hand forward, pushing the sea prune into her mouth. Gasping and coughing, Toph was up on her feat in an instant, scaring Momo away as she spit out the morsel angrily.

"Come here you little pest," Toph said with a glare, still spitting the after taste of sea prune and lemur fur from her mout.

Momo, unable to understand any of the girls words but realizing she didn't appreciate his attempt to solace her, let out a startled cry and bounded over to where Aang walked through the open doorway.

"Hey little guy," Aang said cheerily, "Looking for Appa?"

"We were just playing a little game," Toph said, careful not to reveal any malice in her voice, "I'll take him back if you don't mind."

She held her hands out as Aang stepped forward to hand her Momo. Smiling, Toph took the lemur gruffly and stuffed him under one arm, keeping him from crying out with the folds of her heavy blue coat.

"So how's the training been going," Toph asked with Momo squirming under her arm.

"Okay I guess," Aang said as he pawed through his belongings that had been brought to Kanna's home, searching for his airbending scrolls, "I was having some trouble teaching Anila, but Katara gave me some great advice." Finding the scrolls and stuffing them into the pack that also held the face of Le Jien, Aang repeated Katara's words, "Praise her even when she fails and be gentle when offering ways to improve."

"Listen, Aang," Toph said, "Sugar Queen is a great bender and all, but I don't know if following her teaching advice is the best idea."

"What do you mean?" Aang asked in confusion, turning to face her.

"What I mean is," Toph explained, "You can't just be nice and easy going while training; you've got to be direct and firm. If she does something wrong, tell her so and threaten her to get it right next time."

"That's not what Katara said--"

"Believe me, it's the only way to get results," Toph stated, "you remember how it was for you and earthbending."

"I guess," Aang admitted, then finished as he walked out the door, "I'll keep that in mind, see you later, Toph."

Guessing that Aang had left and was out of earshot, Toph carefully removed the squirming Momo from the crook of her arm and raised him up by his tail.

"Now then, Momo," she grinned as she held up the frightened lemur who looked at her upside down with startled green eyes, "Your lesson on keeping your hands to yourself is about to begin."

* * *

Standing over a cauldron of bubbling stew, Kanna ladled out the steaming soup to the hungry workers at the construction site. Thanking the woman, the water tribesman stepped out of the serving line and Sokka stepped up to his grandmother holding up his bowl.

"Hey gran," he greeted, "I'll take three ladle fulls; I've worked up quite the appetite."

"You've been away for almost a year and thats all you have to say to your grandmother?" Kanna scolded, waving her ladle chidingly, splattering drops of food on Sokka's face.

"I missed you," Sokka tried, smiling innocently and holding up his bowl.

Frowning, Kanna dumped half a ladle full into her grandsons bowl and called, "Next."

Sokka looked down at the minuscule portion aghast, and looked back to his grandmother miserably with a quivering lip.

Kanna's expressionless face broke into a slight smile as she filled Sokka's bowl the rest of the way, saying, "I missed you too."

As the next person in the serving line stepped forward, Kanna scooped up some of the stew, but dropped the ladle when she saw the young man's face, marred on one side by a scar.

Seeing his grandmother's startled expression, Sokka explained, "Gran, this is Zuko."

Giving an awkward smile, Zuko bowed respectfully, saying, "I'm sorry for my behavior at our last encounter."

"Don't worry," Sokka said to his grandmother, balancing his bowl in one hand and gesturing to Zuko with the other, "He's changed a lot since then. We've broken him of all those old habits and he's even house trained now."

Zuko shot Sokka an annoyed look but was interrupted by the water tribesman's grandmother, who had recovered from her initial shock to speak up, "There was a time when I would never believe it possible," she said, looking past Zuko to where master Pakku was talking with Katara, "but I've learned, even in my old age, that people can change for the better."

As Zuko thanked Kanna for the food and walked off with Sokka, Kanna finished serving the last few tribesmen in line and watched as Pakku approached with Katara.

"I'm shocked to see some of the progress these students are making under your care. Perhaps its time I retired from teaching."

"I don't think I'm ready to steal your job yet," Katara laughed in response to her former master, who had really become more like an uncle or grandfather to her, "I'm only fourteen."

"That's something we all keep forgetting," Hakoda spoke up from beside the two waterbenders to his daughter, "It seems like I tell you the same things every time I see you; you've already grown since last I saw you in Ba Sing Se. It won't be long before you're married and have a family of your own."

"Dad," Katara drawled, rolling her eyes.

"There are plenty of young water tribesmen around who I'm sure would be honored to marry a master waterbender such as yourself," Pakku stated with a smile, taking interest in his favorite student's future and gesturing to a few of the younger tribesman who carried a long whalephant beam between them.

Overhearing what was being said, the three tribesmen immediately dropped the beam to make muscles and grin suggestively at Katara, who only raised an eyebrow, unamused. Zuko, who had been standing and blowing at his bowl of hot soup, had the unfortunate pleasure of having the beam fall on his foot causing him to spill his soup on himself, lose his balance, and fall face down in the snow.

Katara's expression of disapproval quickly broke into a humored grin at seeing Zuko sprawled indignantly in the snow, and she ran forward both tell him and how funny he looked and to make sure he was alright. Hakoda marched forward as well, eying the three water tribesman that had tried to catch his daughter's attention disdainfully, prompting them to quickly get back to work.

"Leave her alone, Pakku," Kanna spoke up in monotone in response to Pakku's last statement, "She'll marry when she's ready." Pakku shot Kanna an uncharacteristically hurt glance, but Kanna only smiled her tired smile and continued gently, "If you pressure her, she might make a decision she'll later regret."

Pakku stared at Kanna with disbelief as understanding dawned on him.

"Kanna...I-" Pakku attempted to find his voice.

"Let's walk," Kanna smiled, taking Pakku's hand and leading him down away from the construction site.

* * *

"Hey Anila, I'm back," Aang said cheerily as he approached the airbender.

"Oh, hi Aang," Anila said as she straightened out of her stance, looking downcast and quirking her mouth in defeat.

"I'm sorry about running off like I did," Aang apologized awkwardly, rubbing his arm absentmindedly and looking away from her.

Biting her lip and avoiding his gaze, Anila replied softly, "It's okay, I'm not worth your time anyway."

"No, thats not true," Aang spoke up, looking at Anila and prompting her to meet his gaze, "Teaching you airbending is more important to me than anything else. I shouldn't have abandoned you like that...but look what I brought, airbending scrolls!"

Anila forced a small smile at Aang's exuberance.

Unrolling a scroll, Aang held the parchment out for both of them to see. The paper was somewhat damaged, but luckily the images were still intact, portraying an air nomad monk holding his staff, sweeping it around himself and letting loose a stream of wind.

"Okay, first lets get the motion down; no bending," Aang said, setting the scroll down and picking up his staff from where he had left it. The two airbenders held their staffs at the ready and Aang spoke up, "I'll do it with you. One, two, three."

Aang twisted his staff around, careful to keep an eye on Anila as she did the same but with much more hesitation and jerky movements.

Remembering Katara's advice, Aang spoke out, "That's great, you've got the basic form down. Try to move more smoothly though."

"Like this?" Anila questioned, twisting the staff and sweeping out with it.

"No, thats not it at all," Aang said firmly, trying some of Toph's advice, "You've slowed down too much. Now get it right."

Her eyes widened at Aang's sudden sharpness and Anila quickly averted her gaze and picked up the pace of her swinging.

"Faster," Aang commanded, spinning his own staff like a whirlwind but still not bending, watching as Anila did the same.

Gritting her teeth and sweating with concentration and anxiety, Anila moved through the technique over and over again, faster and faster, until finally losing control and accidentally letting loose a raging current of air into a nearby snow bank, sending the white powder exploding skyward.

"You did it! That was great!" Aang exclaimed with encouragement and then threw out in a threatening tone, "But you weren't supposed to bend! You can't lose control like that!"

Anila's expression changed from shock to happiness to distress as she realized what she had done, absorbed Aang's praise, and took in his aggressive reproval.

"But I'm getting better?" she stated timidly in the form of a question.

"You are; that was great," Aang said, realized he might be being too soft like Toph had mentioned, and quickly added, "but if you're not going to do it right you might as well give up."

Anila blinked in surprise and stuttered, "But—you said—I thought," she continued questioning as her face crumpled in on itself in confusion as she began sobbing, "I actually did it—and you—I don't understand."

Looking at her intensely as she brought her hands up to cover her face, Aang realized the contradictory message that using both Katara and Toph's advice had sent, and his face softened as he spoke up and took a tentative step forward, "Don't cry, you didn't do anything wrong. It's my fault for being such a lousy teacher. I--"

Anila only shook her head and ran off, leaving Aang alone in their makeshift training ground.

"Great," Aang sighed disgustedly with himself, "I'm the Avatar and I can't even teach airbending to save my life, let alone to rebuild my nation."

Suddenly a snowball caught him in the face. The snow melted off into steam as Aang glared at the lone water tribesman who approached him.

"Hey Aang, I finally found you," Kinto said with a smirk. Noticing Aang's vexed expression, he spoke up again, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Aang replied bitterly, not eager to talk about the conflict that had just occurred, and adding quickly, "Katara told me not to talk to you anyway."

"Katara," Kinto practically laughed, looking at Aang skeptically, "are you seriously going to listen to some girl?"

"Not anymore," Aang said darkly with both Katara and Toph's teaching advice in mind, "It's only gotten me into more trouble."

"Great!" Kinto grinned, grabbing Aang's arm to drag him off, "We've got more pranks to pull."

* * *

Hidden behind one of the pallets of building material, Kinto sat with one arm raised in the air, moving around in a simple bending technique. Nearby, a water tribesman struggled to bring a spoonful of soup to his mouth, only to have the liquid jump from his spoon back into his bowl.

Aang sat with Kinto, paying little attention to his friend's foolery. Noticing this, Kinto bent the water tribesman's whole bowl of soup into the man's face and voiced his concern for Aang's lack of interest.

"Come on Aang, you can't get all soar just because some girl can't bend right."

"She's not just some girl, she represents everything that was taken away from me one hundred years ago. I have the chance to bring that back and I'm failing," Aang defended pointedly.

"Whatever," Kinto replied, throwing his hands up disarmingly, "But there's plenty of time to work on that later. We've got a whole city to prank and I can't do it on my own."

"Alright," Aang said, forcing a exhaling laugh, "but I choose the next victim."

Kinto nodded with a grin and both boys got to the their feet. Leading the way, Aang led them through the construction area, dodging workers and meandering through building supplies, coming to some of the completed buildings and finally coming to a halt on the rooftop of one of them.

"Target sited," Aang snickered, looking down and pointing at Sokka.

Without fail, pulling any kind of practical joke on Sokka was uplifting.

Looking down with a grin, Kinto's expression suddenly grew tense as he saw not only Sokka, but also the fire nation teen next to him.

"What's the fire nation doing here," he said in a low tone without blinking, the usual mischievousness behind his voice gone.

"Oh, that's Zuko," Aang replied absentmindedly, paying Kinto little mind as he tried to figure out the best way to prank Sokka.

"The Fire Lord?!" Kinto sputtered, turning to look at Aang in surprise.

"Not anymore," Aang said, looking up in confusion, "something wrong?"

Shaking his head, Kinto returned his gaze to the fire nation boy, his mouth quirking up into its usual grin, "No. Nothing wrong at all."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Good grief, this chapter took me way longer to write than it should have. I still don't like the way it turned out, but I've spent too much time on it already, so here it is.

Thanks to everyone reading for sticking with this story. I know I'm slow and I apologize, thanks for putting up with me :)

Special thanks to fuzzytomato for helping me out with a few lines in this chapter (go read her amazing story "Brothers in Arms"), and everyone should check out this very cute picture of Aang and Anila drawn by Wren Sharpbeak (do I even need to tell you how awesome she is) viewable at www. sasartstudios. com/ fanart. html (remove all spaces).


	19. The Prankster part 3

Returning to her grandmother's home, Katara looked around and found the main living quarters empty. She smiled at the thought that Gran Gran and Pakku were still out with each other.

Seeing a mess of belongings sprawled out on the floor, undoubtedly belonging to Aang, she walked over to pick up the assortment of items. Unstrapping a bag to put everything away, she was suddenly assaulted by a little white creature as it bolted out of the bag into her arms, causing her to drop everything.

"Momo, what were you doing in there!" she shouted with surprise, holding the lemur up with both hands.

Momo only chirped animatedly at her, looking around the room franticly.

Scanning the room also, Katara asked, "What're you looking for?"

Suddenly the pile of blankets and furs that lay nearby stirred to life, causing Momo to screech, take to the air, and fly out the door.

Rising from her sleep, Toph mumbled tiredly as she stood, "Someone there?"

"Oh, Toph!" Katara yelped with surprise, "I didn't know you were still here."

"I've been here all day," Toph grumbled in response.

Realizing that no one had bothered to keep the blind girl company, Katara suddenly felt ashamed as she spoke up, "I'm sorry we left you behind."

Shrugging and scratching her hair absently, Toph replied, "It's okay, don't feel like you have to babysit the blind girl."

"Thats not it at all," Katara replied quickly, "It's just been so long since Sokka and I have been home, we all just got caught up—"

"I understand. You're back home with your family. If I had a family like yours, I'd be excited too."

"Toph, you are my family, and I'm sorry," Katara aplogized, placing a hand ont the girls shoulder, and changin the subject, "What do you say to doing something fun?"

"Like what?" Toph replied, doubting there was anything fun to do in the frozen nightmare around her.

"Want to go penguin sledding?"

"Penguin sledding?" Toph questioned sarcastically.

"It's a lot of fun, we should get Aang and Anila to come too."

"I don't know..." Toph trailed off, unsure of herself. She didn't like the idea of doing something where she couldn't see, and she finished remorsefully, "I think I'll just stay here."

"There's no way am I going to let you pass this up," Katara said firmly, "It's just like the mail shoots at Omashu, and I know how much you loved those."

"Really?" Toph replied, excited. She did love that and had made Aang take her on it at least two dozen times after the liberation of Omashu during the war. "I guess I'll give it a try."

* * *

Appa lay on his belly with his head propped on his forepaws, resting lazily in the stable provided for him. Winking his eyes open sleepily and inhaling abruptly, he sucked up a bundle of sea cabbage that had been generously provided by the Water Tribe. Munching contentedly on the vegetables leaves, Appa looked up with a grunt to see Anila standing in the doorway of the stable building.

"Hey Appa," she said, setting her staff down and smiling weakly as she walked over to pick up one of the cabbage heads.

The bison's tongue came out to scoop the cabbage from the girl's hands, causing her to giggle as she wiped the bison drool off on her pant legs. Sighing, she took a seat on his paw and leaned back into his fur. Noticing her dejected manner, Appa turned his head towards the airbending girl and let out a questioning yawn.

"I don't really want to talk about it," she replied, trembling slightly.

Appa tilted his head and nudged her lightly with his cheek, letting out a coaxing groan.

Staring into her lap and twisting her robe in her hands, Anila confessed, "It's Aang. First when we were training, he just ran away, and when he came back he was talking nice and then yelling and...it was so confusing."

Appa let out a dull roar in response.

"He always tells me how important I am; he thinks the Air Nomads will depend on me as much as him. I left my home for him," she explained, then added despondently, "I wish he'd act like this was important."

Appa nuzzled Anila with his cheek once again, grunting at her remark, causing Anila to smile despite herself.

"Give him another chance?" she questioned, looking into one of Appa's big gray eyes.

The flying bison yawned, and turned over onto his opposite side, knocking Anila off his paw and sending her tumbling to the ground.

"Appa!" she said with surprise, jumping to her feet and walking around to face the bison with amusement, "You're supposed to be helping me!"

"Anila," Katara called from behind the airbender, causing her to spin around and see waterbender and Toph walking towards her, "we've been looking all over for you and Aang."

"Were you just talking to Appa?" Toph questioned from Katara's side, raising an eyebrow in where she guessed the other girl stood.

"Uhm, no," Anila shuffled her feet awkwardly, "I was just—"

"Where's Aang?" Katara asked suddenly, looking around and unable to find her other friend.

"Oh, he had to—"

"Did he leave you again!" Katara shouted, suddenly furious, "If he's with Kinto again I swear I'll—"

"We just needed a break from each other," Anila interrupted shyly in Aang's defense.

"Oh, alright," Katara replied, all tension in her voice gone as she noticed the girl's uneasiness, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Ahem," Toph coughed, rolling her eyes at Katara's sensitivity and spoke up, "We're going penguin sledding and wanted to see if you and Aang wanted to come along. Since Twinkle Toes if off doing who knows what, that leaves you. You in?"

"Penguin sledding?" Anila questioned curiously.

* * *

"Okay, know what you're supposed to do?"

"Yep," Sokka nodded the affirmative to his kinsman, "We're going to 'pick up some supplies' outside the village," he said with a grin and continued, "I'll keep Zuko distracted while you guys do the bending."

"Right," Aang agreed, "Kinto and I'll freeze him in a block of ice and we'll ride the ice down the hill. It'll be just like penguin sledding, except Zuko's the penguin."

Grinning, all three boy's peaked around the building corner to watch as the workers moved away from the temporarily finished building site, waiting for Zuko to be relatively alone before trooping out of their hiding place.

"Hey, Zuko, wait up," Sokka called out, "Dad said he wanted us to pick up some supplies that were just brought in. They're just outside the village."

"Really?" Zuko questioned with uncertainty, "I didn't hear him—"

"I heard it," Kinto interrupted readily with a grin.

"Me too," Aang chimed with a grin, hopping Zuko would believe the story.

Looking from Aang to Kinto and then finally to Sokka, Zuko replied, "Alright I guess. Lead the way."

* * *

"Okay, first we need to catch some penguins."

The three girls stood in the snow, Katara and Toph in their blue parkas and Anila in her airbending robes. Scattered around them were numerous waddling penguins, paying them little attention.

Anila looked around at the black and white creatures, unsure what to do and not wanting to move should she make a fool of herself. Turning to Katara, she questioned, "What do we do?"

"Take these," Katara replied, handing a dead fish to both Toph and Anila, keeping one for herself.

"Ew," Toph grimaced, feeling the slimy morsel in her hand.

Anila held the fish away from her nose with one hand and a penguin promptly shuffled over to try to steel the fish.

Katara took hold of a penguin that had ventured too close to her, fed it her fish and laughed, "Go ahead Anila, don't be shy."

Smiling at the animal that sniffed enthusiastically at her hand, Anila fed him the fish and stroked his head as the chowed down contentedly.

Toph, unable to see anything, was startled when a penguin began eating the fish out of her hand. Wrapping both arms around it, the creature squirmed in her embrace as Toph laughed, "You picked the wrong earthbender to go sledding with. You better know how to steer. I don't."

* * *

"It's just over this hill," Sokka said, pointing ahead.

"What's it doing all the way out here?" Zuko questioned as he trudged up the hill at Sokka's side.

"Oh, uh, you know," Sokka replied, stumbling through his words and glancing back at Kinto and Aang as he did so, "Well, uh, it—"

"There nothing there down there," Zuko interrupted with surprise as they reached the top of the hill.

Zuko barely had time to turn around before being encased in a block of ice up to his shoulders by Aang and Kinto as they threw their arms forward and upwards.

"What are—" Zuko questioned confusedly, then angrily, "Is this some kind of joke?"

Aang and Kinto smirked as Sokka stalked up to where Zuko stood suspended by the ice and commented, "Yes, a joke, you could call it that. You see, Zuko—"

Rolling his eyes and not in the mood to put up with any of Sokka's nonsense, Zuko took a deep breath and exhaled heatedly, cause the ice that surrounded him to start melting

Kinto's eyes grew wide at this, realizing the ice wasn't going to hold the firebender. Throwing his hands forward again, he tightened them into fists and suddenly the ice around Zuko's chest crunched inward, eliciting a cry of pain from the teen as the air was forced from his lungs.

"Kinto, what're you—" Aang shouted in shock before being punched in the chest by a beam of ice jutting from the ground, sending the airbender flying back down the hill from whence they had come.

Realizing what was happening as Kinto dispatched Aang, Sokka lurched towards Zuko and tried to pry the ice away with his hands to no avail. Watching as the ice suddenly wrapped itself around Zuko's head, Sokka withdrew his club and charged toward the waterbender. Seeing this, Kinto brought both arms back, down and forward in one fluid movement, bending the snow up to connect solidly with Sokka, sending the warrior reeling backwards and crashing into the frozen Zuko.

Unable to move and unable to free himself without a fire generating breath, Zuko's eyes darted wildly from behind the ice as he helplessly titled backwards over the hillside, landing on his back and sliding down the hill.

Rolling onto his stomach from where he had landed, Sokka looked up to see Zuko coasting speedily down the snowy hillside. The warriors eyes grew wide as he realized his friend's momentum would carry him into the ice flow that passed along the hill's bottom.

Jumping to his feet and stumbling down the hill, Sokka ran to save Zuko from the watery deathtrap, ignoring the murderous waterbender that followed behind him. Despite this, the warrior couldn't match the speed of the imprisoned firebender and Zuko slipped into the stream.

As Sokka ran to the edge of the icy river to dive after Zuko, Kinto slowed behind him and, sweeping his arms upwards, bent the water from the river straight up along the streams edge, freezing it in place to create a barrier of thick ice. Almost colliding with the wall, Sokka drew back his club and swung heavily into the blockade. Finding it impossible to break though, he whirled around to face Kinto.

"He's going to die!" Sokka practically screamed, charging the other water tribesman.

"That's kind of the point," Kinto smirked, holding up a handful of snow in one hand and drawing the other back before swinging it over the other to let fly a series of ice daggers.

Holding his club with one hand, Sokka battered the missiles aside with ease as he ran. Seeing this, Kinto brought up a shield of snow between himself and the warrior but was suddenly knocked forward by a blast of air as Aang came surfing down the hill behind him on a wedge of ice.

"Aang!" Sokka shouted, stumbling past the pile of snow Kinto had been buried in, "you need to get to Zuko, he's trapped in the ice flow!"

"But what about Kinto—"

"Go, before its too late!" Sokka roared, understanding full well that it may already be too late.

Running forward, Aang came to the wall blocking access to the ice flow and, stopping just short of the barrier, shot his arms upwards to raise the snow beneath his feet, launching himself over the blockade.

"No!" Kinto shouted as he broke free of snow drift that had held him, forming a spear of ice from the same snow and launching it after Aang.

"You failed," Sokka said with a scowl as the ice javelin thudded into the wall Kinto had created.

Kinto smirked in return as he got to his feet, then laughed, "The Fire Lord's dead. If he doesn't die from suffocation then he'll drown in the ice flow."

* * *

Hopping nimbly across the pieces of ice that drifted down the river, Aang ran to find Zuko amidst it all. He had never guessed this was Kinto's intention, to kill Zuko, and his heart raced as he frantically searched for his friend. How long could Zuko last without air? He didn't know.

Slipping from one tiny iceberg to another, he finally caught sight of Zuko up ahead, still trapped in a block of ice floating through the river. Bringing his hands down swiftly, the ice platform he stood on dipped slightly in the water then lurched upward, sending the Avatar sailing through the air to land on the block of ice that held Zuko.

Performing the same motion again, more intensely this time, Aang brought his hands up and the water beneath him swelled up to carry both himself and Zuko to shore. Immediately upon landing the airbender spread both hands to melt the ice that gripped Zuko to drop the boy int the snowy bank.

Zuko lay there, unmoving and not breathing.

"No!" Aang shouted, reached down swiftly to plug the firebender's nose with his forefinger and thumb, cupping his fist to form a funnel as he titled his friend's head back and brought his other hand around to airbend a tiny stream of air into Zuko's lungs.

Zuko's body shook suddenly as his lungs inflated and he coughed heavily.

Eyes fluttering open momentarily, he spoke up softly with recognition, "Aang?" before losing consciousness again.

"It's going to be alright, Zuko," Aang spoke up, continuing his airbending to keep the firebender breathing, "You're gonna be alright."

* * *

Katara whooped with excitement as she raced down the hill, holding onto her penguin's shoulders tightly as she zoomed beside Anila.

"Isn't this fun?"

Anila lay on the penguin's back with both arms wrapped tightly around the penguin's neck, teeth gritted and eyes wide with fright as she sailed down the snowy hill, too afraid to open her mouth and reply.

"Take it easy, its not that scary!" Katara laughed as both girls shot over snow bank.

"Speak for yourself!" Anila yelped once they had landed, still holding on for her life as they continued racing downhill and careful not to lose her staff from where it continually tried to slip from between her and her living toboggan.

"Hey Sugar Queen, Anila, why so slow?" Toph called out as she sailed between them, holding onto her penguin blindly.

"Toph," Katara laughed, "be careful, you can't see where your going and penguins aren't always—look out!

Katara veered left and Anila veered right while Toph continued her straight path unknowingly and crashed into the snow bank. The impact ripped the penguin out of her grasp and the girl went sailing through the air to land in the snow further away.

Using her waterbending, Katara bent the hillside ahead of both her and Anila upward and their penguin's slid up the ramp, lost momentum, and drifted back down.

Running over to where the blind girl lay dazed, Katara called out, "Toph! Are you alright?"

Sitting up dizzily, her head swaying back and forth, Toph finally spoke up, "That...was awesome."

"It didn't hurt?" Anila questioned with shock as Katara helped the blind girl to her feet.

"Me, hurt?" Toph laughed, "You should know me better than that by now."

"Well if you're alright, we've still got a few more slopes to go down," Katara interrupted cheerily, "come on, we'll race!"

* * *

"You used us," Sokka growled from where he stood, "You used us to get close to him. Why?"

"Why do you think?" Kinto barked, "He's Fire Nation! Have you already forgotten what they did to our people? They persecuted us for a century! They killed my parents!"

"I've lost loved ones to the war too, but this isn't how you deal with it," Sokka replied in a level tone, remaining in his ready stance as the two boys faced off, "Because of Zuko the war is over. If he dies then everything could go back to the way it was."

"He has to pay," Kinto laughed maniacally, "They'll all pay for what they did."

"You're out of your mind."

Kinto smirked at this and stepped forward, solidifying his stance and thrusting his arms forward. Sokka leapt and ducked into a tumbling roll as the ice behind him broke and water fountained up, freezing into a tower of ice. Dodging and swinging his club, he smashed through spikes of ice that continued to jut from the ground, all the while closing in on the waterbender.

As he lunged forward bearing his club, Kinto leaned back to avoid the blow, taking several backward steps and bending the snow up from the ground as he went, liquefying it, streaming it through his hands, and finally freezing it into a sword of ice.

Recovering from his initial overpowered swing just as Kinto finished making his sword, Sokka struck out again, this time making contact with the waterbender's sword as Kinto parried the blow.

Malice showing in both warrior's eyes, each withdrew and swung once again, both weapons clashing as they struck one another. Blow after blow, neither was able to make contact with the other's body and finally both boys struck forward ferociously and threw all their weight at their opponent.

Faces contorted in rage and determination, both water tribesman strained against the other to force them off balance. Seeing his efforts as fruitless, Sokka faded giving in, only to twist his club around, carrying Kinto's descending blade with it. Kinto could only watch in horror as Sokka twisted his club in a circular motion and swept the sword away..

Acting quickly, the bender flung his arms upward, forcing the snow below his opponent's feet up and outward. Sokka rose with the block of ice, dropping his club but maintaining his balance as he was thrown backwards. Landing in a crouch just in front of the ice wall that blocked access to the river, he looked up to see Kinto raising a bed of snow and shaping them into dozens of icicles in midair.

Looking around frantically for some means to defend himself or escape, Sokka sighted the javelin of ice Kinto had thrown at Aang previously and, as the frozen daggers closed in on him, he leapt into the air, grabbing hold of the ice shaft and pulling himself out of harms way as the icicles embedded themselves in the wall behind him. No sooner had they done so did the ice spear break at its burial point, dropping the warrior to the ground..

Landing on his feet, Sokka hurled the remains of the ice spear at Kinto as the waterbender charged forward. Eye's widening as the ice skewer flew at him, Kinto twisted sideways, narrowly missing the ice javelin. Bringing his hands up instinctively, he bent the ice into water as it passed by, spun it around himself twisting his whole body as he did so and flung the liquid back at Sokka.

Unable to avoid the splash, Sokka found himself suddenly frozen with his back to the wall.

Panting with exertion, Kinto stood up from his bending stance.

"I bet you thought you'd win this one, didn't you Sokka."

"It's not over yet," Sokka stated, glaring at the waterbender from where he stood immobile.

"Not for me. But for you?" Kinto laughed, "For you, its—"

Kinto was interrupted as Toph blindly crashed into him from behind on her penguin. The waterbender flew forward crashing into the wall of ice and Toph tumbled head over heals to land at Sokka's feet.

"Woh," she spoke up dizzily from where she lay staring blindly into the sky as Sokka looked down at her, "What I hit this time?"

"Ugh," Kinto groaned, rubbing his head and wincing as he stood up.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted as she and Anila came to a stop on their penguins, "What's going on, why are you—"

"Katara, watch out!" her brother shouted.

Turning reflexively, Katara brought her hands up immediately, catching the icicles thrown by Kinto in midair and sending them flying back. Kinto, surprised by her immediate reaction, brought his arms up to defend himself from the razor sharp missiles but was surprised when they liquefied before striking him, leaving his arms frozen to the wall behind him.

Looking from one hand to the other, Kinto struggled to free himself with no avail, his arms and hands pinned to prevent him from bending.

"You would need a bunch of girls to save you," he suddenly spat, glaring side ward at Sokka as Katara approached her brother to free him from the wall while Anila helped Toph up from her disorienting crash, "You can't even fight on your own without having to call to your sister for help. You're not a warrior, you're a coward. You'll never compare to a real bender like me, you'll—"

Kinto's verbal onslaught was suddenly cut short as Anila's staff connected solidly with his forehead causing the waterbender to cry out in pain.

Rubbing his now free left arm, Sokka smiled weakly down at the younger girl, saying simply, "Thanks."

"You would need her to do that, you can't even defend yourself you're so—" Kinto spoke up again before receiving another hard rap on the head from Anila, who frowned at him angrily.

Turning from Kinto, Anila smiled up at Sokka innocently and replied, "He's mean. Don't listen to him."

"Where's Aang and Zuko?" Katara interrupted suddenly.

Sokka turned to face her, grief written on his face as he answered softly, "Okay I hope."

* * *

"You guys can come in now," Katara said from the doorway to Zuko's room.

Toph was immediately out of her seat and Anila took the blind girls arm to lead her into the room where Zuko lay bandaged. Sokka and Aang followed more slowly, staying a short distance away.

"Hey, I'm still sore," Zuko winced through his smile as Toph threw her arms around him.

"I thought you were gonna die on me, Princy," Toph cried into his shoulder past her own smile.

"Toph, he's still weak, you shouldn't—"

"It's fine," Zuko interrupted her, smiling reassuringly, "I'm fine. Your healing works wonders."

Katara smiled weakly in return as Toph s raised a fist to punch him in the arm but thought better of it.

Anila could only smile the same as the other girls from where she stood by Zuko's bedside. She was glad he was okay, but she didn't have the same kind of friendship with the teen that they had and she still felt timid around him.

"Katara told me you three went penguin sledding," Zuko spoke up.

"It was great," Anila replied, smiling more comfortably with something to say, "Toph was the best."

"Of course I was," Toph grinned cheerily, "but you didn't look half bad out there either."

"Thanks," Anila replied modestly before realizing the problem with the blind earthbender's statement, "Hey..."

"Don't worry about it," Toph laughed, "At least you figured it out; Sokka never figures it out."

At the mention of his name, all three girls turned around to where Sokka and Aang stood in silence, both averting their gaze, ashamed.

"Do you think we can talk to Zuko...alone?" Sokka mumbled, unable to make eye contact with any of his friends.

No one had mentioned the incident or Sokka and Aang's involvement since Zuko was brought back. Even Katara, who would normally be on the case of both boys without a second thought, had refrained from reprimanding them.

Nodding, Katara took Toph's arm and lead the blind girl from the room in silence. Anila trailed her, looking briefly over to where Aang hung his head guiltily. As they left, both Sokka and Aang approached Zuko's bedside.

"Are you guys okay?" Zuko asked, looking at them with concern.

"We should be asking you," Aang finally spoke up, raising his head for the first time to meet the firebender's gaze.

"I'm doing fine," Zuko replied, then looked at them seriously, "You guys saved my life."

"We almost ended it!" Sokka shouted, raising the tension in the room.

A long silence passed before Zuko spoke up again, looking away from both his friends, "I know you didn't do it on purpose. You didn't know what he was planning."

"Did Katara tell you that?" Aang questioned, dismayed that she would make excuses for them.

"No," Zuko replied, turning his head to face them again, "You're my friends. I trust you."

"Zuko," Sokka ventured, paused, and then continued, "We'll make it up to you."

Smirking, Zuko's brow shot up as he questioned, "You'll make it up to me?"

"Whatever you want," Aang spoke up, encouraged by Zuko's light mood, "Anything, just ask."

"I'll think about it."

"Hey," Sokka said abruptly, grabbing the elder boy's arm, "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Aang apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Zuko smiled genuinely. Both boys smiled at their bedridden friend before Zuko spoke up again, "If you don't mind though, I think I'll try to get some rest."

"Of course, of course," Sokka said suddenly, "If theres anything we can get you—"

"A blanket? A pillow? You name it, we'll get it," Aang continued for Sokka.

Chuckling sorely, Zuko replied, "How about some quiet."

"Right, right," both boys agreed, "We'll see you later then. And remember, anything you need, we got it covered."

"Right," Zuko answered quietly as they left, rolling over and pressing his face into the warmth of the bed.

Scarred eye staring at the wall, he wondered how many more people like Kinto were out there, how many more people were so hurt and abused by the war that they'd take such desperate measures for revenge.

He drifted to sleep, not cursing his father for the legacy of the Fire Nation, but thankful that he had the chance to make things different and that he had friends he could trust to do it with.

* * *

Kinto, flanked by several water tribe warriors, stood before the Southern Water Tribe's council of elders headed by Chief Hakoda. Zuko, victim to the waterbender's murderous actions and still recovering from his injuries, looked expressionless from where he sat beside the chief.

"Kinto of the Water Tribe," Hakoda spoke without emotion, "We've reached our decision." Kinto scowled at the council intensely, awaiting their judgment. "But before we give it to you, you should know that this council was fully prepared to banish you from both the Southern and Northern Water Tribe."

"I know what its like to be banished from one's home," Zuko spoke out, looking down at Kinto with concern, "I was banished from my nation for two longs years with only a fools hope for return. I wouldn't impose the same fate on anyone, even you."

Kinto growled and opened his mouth to respond, but Hakoda spoke up again in his authoritative tone, "The heir of the Fire Nation has begged us not to send you into exile and we have agreed. Your punishment is your own decision."

"I don't need the Fire Nation's forgiveness!" Kinto replied in an outraged disbelief, "And if the Water Tribe is going to give in to the demands of the Fire Lord then I don't need them either!" Glaring at the elders and Zuko, Kinto finished, "If I'm free then I'm banishing myself from the Water Tribe!"

With of wave of Hakoda's hand, the warriors that surrounded Kinto escorted the waterbender away. Zuko could only stare, lost in thought, as the water tribesman made his exit.

* * *

**Author's Note: **And there you have it, "The Prankster". I feel like this 'episode' was really disorganized and rather than leading up to an exciting conclusion, it just kinda danced around and finally ended. Hopefully it was still enjoyable for you readers :)

Next 'episode' is titled, "The Last Warrior of Kyoshi" and we'll finally get to catch up with Suki. She won't be the only old character to show up either ;)

Lastly, anonymous reviews are now enabled. I honestly didn't even know they were disabled so I apologize to those readers who don't have accounts and have been wanting to say something.


	20. The Last Warrior of Kyoshi part 1

"This is so boring," Sokka sighed, falling over backwards in the snow.

Not far from him Aang was already lying on his back, trying to get a moment of rest. A chair situated between two poles, specially constructed at Zuko's request, rested on the ground between them.

"I know," Aang agreed in response and continued adamantly, "This isn't quite what I meant when I said I'd do anything for him. I'm the Avatar, not a personal servant."

"Well we did almost get him killed," Sokka reminded with another lengthy sigh.

"I know, I know," Aang replied, staring at the sky from his lounged position, "but that was a week ago and it seems like between this and teaching Anila airbending I haven't had any free time."

Still lying on the ground, Aang raised a hand, making elegant gestures as he spoke in a dignified manner, "Would you like some more tea, Lord Zuko? Would you like your pillow fluffed, Lord Zuko? How can I pamper you today, Lord Zuko?"

Sokka sighed miserably once again, not in the mood for one of Aang's impressions and replied simply, "I'm bored."

"I thought we established that," Aang said, dropping his hand.

"No, I mean with being here, in the South Pole."

"What, why? You're with your family, you're seeing your dad," Aang interjected, sitting up to look at Sokka curiously.

"I know, I know," Sokka said as he sat up as well, "It's been so great seeing him again, Gran Gran too, but recently...I've been thinking about Suki."

"You still miss her, don't you."

"I promised her I'd come back when the war was over. We've been pretty busy since then, but now..."

"We'll go to Kyoshi Island then," Aang spoke up.

"I can't ask you and everyone else to go there just for me."

"No, I want to go," Aang said with a grin, "It'll get me away from Zuko."

"Good point," Sokka replied, then smiled thankfully, "Thanks Aang, this means a lot to me."

Interrupting the two friends, Zuko emerged from a doorway nearby, saying to Aang, "You weren't kidding, everything freezes in there."

"I know!" Aang exclaimed, forgetting his conversation with Sokka, "This one time—"

"I don't want to know," Zuko interrupted, taking a seat in the sedan chair and clapping his hands, "We better get going, I want to see this penguin sledding Toph keeps raving about."

"Can't you do that later?" Sokka whined.

"Toph and Anila are sledding right now and I need some fresh air. Besides the walk out there will be great exercise."

"Zuko, you're not walking," Aang pointed out.

"Excuse me?" Zuko asked dryly, turning his head to look at the Avatar expectantly.

"Er, sorry your most esteemed royal highness, master and heir of fire, the merciful and gracious, Fire Lord Zuko," Aang corrected himself, then raised a finger, "I was just saying that—"

"That's better, but no questions right now or we'll miss Toph."

Mouth still agape, Aang dropped his finger and reluctantly stooped down to pick up the carrying poles as Sokka did the same. Balancing Zuko's weight between them, they began their burdensome trek out of the city to the sledding hill.

As the three boy's marched through the snow outside the city, or rather, as Sokka and Aang trudged through the snow carrying Zuko, Sokka spoke up from where he walked in front, "So Aang, about what we were talking about earlier."

"What? Oh, right!" Aang replied from behind, "Zuko your Fire Lordiness, Sokka and I wanted to let you know that we're going to be making trip to Kyoshi Island. Sokka has to visit an old friend."

"That sounds great," Zuko replied, "I hear Kyoshi Island is nice this time of year, when do we leave?"

"_Sokka_ and_ I,_" Aang emphasized, "will be leaving tomorrow. Don't worry though, we'll be back before you know it. One week, two weeks tops."

"Nonsense, I'm up for a little traveling," Zuko replied, leaning back in his chair with a smirk, causing both boys to stagger under his shifting weight, "Besides, I can't be without my servants."

"Zuko, aren't you better by now?" Sokka complained, turning back to look at the smug firebender.

"Ahem," Zuko coughed, "the title?"

"I'm not calling you that," Sokka deadpanned as he turned to face forward, not willing to humiliate himself.

"Sokka..." Zuko trailed off expectantly.

"No."

"You said you'd do anything to make it up to me..."

"No."

"I can still firebend if I have to..."

"Look, Zuko, I don't care what you do, I'm not going to call you—Toph!"

As Toph suddenly crashed her penguin into a snowbank in front of them, Sokka dropped his end of the sedan chair as he bolted forward through the snow. The carrying poles immediately fell and embedded themselves in the ground, dumping Zuko from his seat and sending him sliding forward through the snow on his face as Aang rushed by to check on Toph.

"Toph, are you alright?" Aang shouted as he followed after Sokka.

"Am I alright?" Toph gasped with exhilaration as she jumped to her feet, causing both Sokka and Aang to skid to a stop in front of her, "Twinkle Toes, I've never felt better."

"Are you okay?" a soft, childish voice asked.

Zuko grunted and turned his head to look up out the corner of his eyes to see Anila standing over him with her penguin waddling out of eyesight behind her.

"I think so," he replied, pushing himself up on his hands and knees.

Anila held out her hand to help him up, a gesture he smiled at as he gingerly took her hand and stood, careful not to pull her over in the process.

"Thanks," he said once on his feet, standing a full head and shoulders higher than her. Brushing off the frostiness that clung to him, he asked, "Does she always do that?"

"Yeah, she likes to crash," Anila giggled, turning to face Toph, Aang, and Sokka as they approached.

"I take back everything bad I said about this place," Toph announced, "I love the South Pole."

"Really?" Zuko questioned amusedly, "I guess you won't want to go to Kyoshi Island with Aang, Sokka, and I then."

"Woh, back up, of course I want to leave," Toph stated in shock, "there's no earth here!"

"But Toph, you just said—" Sokka spoke up in confusion.

"I say a lot of things, Snoozles," Toph replied, turning away from him, "And there's no way you're leaving without me."

"Can I come too?" Anila asked softly, looking from Toph to Aang.

"Of course," Aang readily answered with a grin, "We'll all go, Katara too."

* * *

Appa stood outside the stables to be loaded for the flight to Kyoshi Island. Rested and well fed, he was ready for the several day flight.

"We finally get to leave!" Toph shouted excitedly from where she sat in the bison's saddle waiting for the others.

Appa let out a dull roar response.

"You said it Fuzzball, I am so done with this place."

Patting the bison's muzzle, Anila stood before him with staff in hand and Momo perched on her shoulder.

"You know, if it wasn't for that hair, I'd mistake you for Aang," Katara joked from beside the airbender, patting her on the head, "you really do look like an Air Nomad."

"Thanks," Anila replied, shrinking under Katara's hand and smiling awkwardly.

"Almost ready to go?"

"Dad!" Katara yelped with excitement, spinning around to hug him goodbye, "I'm going to miss you, I didn't expect to be leaving so soon."

"You'll be fine, it was great seeing you," Hakoda replied, embracing his daughter, "Take care." Watching as Sokka approached carrying the forward end of Zuko's chair, he continued, "And keep your brother out of trouble."

"I will," Katara laughed as Aang and Sokka came to a halt, lowering the chair beside Appa.

"Don't forget my stuff," Zuko said to both of them from his reclined position.

"No problem, Zuko, the Fire Lord whose grace is exceeded only by his bending prowess, comparable to none and..." Aang chirped as he dashed off to do Zuko's bidding, out of sight before finishing Zuko's ever growing list of titles. Rolling his eyes, Sokka reluctantly trailed after Aang.

"You know you can start walking on your own now," Katara said once they were gone, smirking down at Zuko.

Getting out of his chair and stretching his legs, Zuko replied modestly, "I know, I know. After today they're off the hook."

"Using your injuries to take advantage of your friends," Toph stated, punching Zuko in the arm, "now why didn't I think of that."

As Katara said goodbyes to her grandmother, Pakku, and several of her short term bending students, Sokka and Aang returned laden with bags of each other's and Zuko's belongings. As Aang hefted the bags up to Zuko in the saddle, Sokka stepped aside to say his goodbyes.

"Look, Dad," he began, staring at his feet as he stood before his father, "I know you're probably disappointed in me."

"We all make mistakes, son," Hakoda replied, catching Sokka's attention, "I know as well as everyone else that neither you or Aang meant any harm." Seeing his son smile, Hakoda smiled himself and continued, "You're not too old to hug your father are you?"

"Of course not," Sokka replied, shamelessly embracing the man he idiolized before turning to his grandmother.

Kanna's face remained unreadable as she stated, "Katara tells me you're visiting a girl."

"I might have forgotten to mention that," Sokka stammered, reddening and scratching the back of his head.

As her face creased into a smile, Kanna chuckled, "I'm sure she's very special."

"Suki is great," Sokka answered quickly, turning from his grandmother to his father and back again, "She's strong willed, brave, and would do anything to help others in need."

"You sounds just like your father describing your mother."

"I wasn't that awkward was I?" Hakoda chuckled before turning to his son, "We look forward to meeting her."

Glad to have his family's approval, Sokka shot them a goodbye grin before clambering into Appa's saddle.

"Do we always have to leave on such short notice?" Katara fussed as she secured her belongings as the bison took to the air.

"Katara," Sokka replied, rolling his eyes from where he settled comfortably after waving to everyone below, "we told you yesterday we were planning to leave today."

"I know, I know. It seems like we just got here though."

"We're team Avatar, we don't settle anywhere for long," Toph spoke up from where she lounged in her corner of the saddle, "Traveling the world and dispensing justice; now thats what we're all about."

"We're not dispensing justice, we're going to meet up with Suki," Sokka corrected her then spoke to the group in general, "This is so great, I haven't seen her in months. Maybe she'll even come back to the South Pole with us."

"Is she Sokka's girlfriend?" Anila whispered to Toph, stifling a giggle with one hand while holding Momo with the other.

"You could call her that," Toph growled in return, rolling over to face away from the others.

"You remember Suki, don't you Zuko?" Sokka asked, turning to the firebender sitting next to him.

"We met briefly," Zuko replied with indifference.

"Ha, I bet you remember it vividly," Sokka said as he threw an arm around Zuko's shoulders and held the other forward, "Her stunning beauty in her Kyoshi regalia, sailing through the sky and pinning you with her fans, saving her home from the Fire Nation menace."

"I remember a bunch of girls with makeup that were easily defeated by my crew and I before we left the island of our own will to chase after Aang," Zuko stated impassively, shooting Sokka a sarcastic look.

"Kyoshi Island, Zuko, not prissy island," Sokka replied, glaring at the firebender before continuing as happily as before, "It's been so long! I wonder what she's been up to."

As Sokka began to tell Zuko how he met Suki, Anila listened in and Toph settled back, trying to ignore Sokka's rambling. Sighing in annoyance, Zuko shot Katara a glance, begging wordlessly for her to end his chatter.

Grinning back at Zuko's pained expression, Katara spoke up, "I'm going to go up front and sit with Aang. Sokka, don't forget to tell Zuko about how we met up with Suki at the Serpent's Pass."

"Oh, thanks Katara, I almost forgot about that!" Sokka chimed before jumping head long into his story.

Katara couldn't help but chuckle with silent mirth as Zuko let out an exasperated sigh and slid to the bottom of the saddle. Getting up from her seat and making her way across past Toph and Anila, she slid down Appa's fur to take a seat next to Aang.

"Hey, Katara," Aang greeted, turning his head as he did so from where he lay back in Appa's fur holding the reins.

"Hey," she replied, smiling from beside him, "I haven't seen you lately."

"Zuko's been keeping me busy," Aang answered seriously with a grin, "between him and Anila I haven't had much time for anything."

"I know what you mean," Katara agreed, "I've been so caught up in training students with Master Pakku, working with Dad and seeing Gran Gran. Life seemed...normal again."

"You mean traveling from town to town on Appa isn't normal?" Aang joked, "We've been doing this for almost a year now."

"Is it always going to be like this?" Katara asked softly, looking to the horizon as the clouds unfolded over the sea, "Even with the war over, are we just going to keep traveling? Without a mission, without a purpose?"

"It won't always be like this," Aang replied, looking at Katara with concern. He'd been too busy to tell her how he felt at the South Pole and the longer he waited the more perfect he wanted it to be. A moment when they'd be alone, and—he stopped his train of thought as quickly as it started and continued, "It'll get better, I promi—ouch!"

Gripping his side and squirming sharply under the frosty bite, he ripped the cloth bag that clung to his side away from himself.

"What's wrong?" Katara yelped.

"It got really...cold," Aang answered slowly as he curiously pulled the face of Le Jien free from the material.

"You still have that thing?" Katara questioned, looking at it as worriedly as Aang.

The face looked back, unchanging.

"Not for long," he determined, "When I get the chance, I'll return it to the spirit world. Le Jien is gone, it should be safe now."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know," Aang answered quickly, almost angrily before finishing calmly, "I'll figure something out."

"Okay," she replied, forcing a smile.

"So," Aang began to change the subject, "Are you going to watch me ride the Elephant Koi?"

"You're not getting out of your responsibilities that easily," Katara replied, pretending to scold him, "You still have to teach Anila airbending."

"Alright, master Katara," Aang intoned, "have any more _helpful_ techniques to help me teach her?"

"I was being helpful!" Katara blurted out humorously, aghast, "You just did it all wrong!"

"I did everything you said," Aang laughed, shaking his head.

"You also did everything Toph said," Katara pointed out, "First thing when we get to Kyoshi Island, I'm going to show you how to teach her the right way."

Aang opened his mouth to reply but Katara beat him to it, "And no riding the Elephant Koi!"

* * *

The clear morning was interrupted as a huge roar erupted above the village on Kyoshi Island. As the watchman tolled the bell, men, women, and children rushed from their home's looking skyward to watch excitedly as the Avatar's bison flew majestically overhead. As Appa landed at the town's entrance the people rushed forward with a loud cheer, forming a small crowd.

Seeing Aang waving from Appa's head the crowd burst into ecstatic jubilee. Pushing his way through the crowd, a young man stumbled to the front of the gathering. Flailing his arms, he began whooping and frothing with excitement.

Hopping down from Appa, Aang helped Anila down as well before turning to grin at the crowd.

"Hello everyone—" he began before being tackled by a band of young girls.

"Aangy, you're back!" they all shouted, smothering the Avatar.

"Aangy?" Toph asked incredulously, turning to Katara as she landed next to her.

"They really love him here," Katara answered, grinning at the people.

"Is he going to be alright?" Zuko questioned as he climbed down from the saddle, looking to where the foaming man had collapsed on the ground.

Suddenly the crowd went into a hush, faces frozen with fear and surprise.

"It's Fire Lord Zuko," an anonymous voice whispered.

Zuko looked around the uneasy faces of the crowd before Sokka's voice interrupted the tension as he leapt down from the saddle, "Where's Suki?"

The crowd remained silent as Sokka looked from face to face, searching for the familiar Kyoshi Warrior makeup but finding nothing.

"Sokka," Oyaji, the village elder, spoke up as he stepped forward, "There's something you need to know."

"What!" Sokka yelped with worry as he quit his visual scan of the crowd, "Is something wrong?"

"It's Suki. She's okay, but..."

Staring at Oyaji with disbelief, Sokka broke away from his friends and the assembly.

"Sokka, wait!" Katara called in distress as he ran through the entrance of the village.

* * *

Something was wrong, Sokka saw it in Oyaji's eyes and the faces of the people when he mentioned Suki. What could have happened?

The last time he'd seen Suki was when he'd left Kyoshi Island before the infiltration of the Fire Nation. They'd found her wounded in the wilderness after the swift reclamation of Ba Sing Se, alone and barely clinging to life. Katara did what she could to heal the warrior, but Suki wasn't going to get back on her feet any time soon.

Suki explained how she and her warriors had been ambushed by Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. In an effort to defend Appa and give him a chance of escape, the Kyoshi Warriors fought the Fire Nation girls to the end. Suki was the only survivor.

Bringing her to Kyoshi Island for safety, Sokka remained at her bedside where she lay heavily bandaged for as long as possible before Aang determined they needed to move on. Heart torn, Sokka held her hand in his and promised he'd return when the war was over.

* * *

"Oyaji, what's wrong?" Katara questioned worriedly after Sokka disappeared.

Oyaji glanced around the concerned faces of the Avatar's companions, pausing on Zuko before he explained, "When you brought Suki here in the early summer, she was terribly injured. After you left, her condition worsened and her wounds became infected. We did all we could for her..."

"What happened?" Aang asked again for everyone.

* * *

Leaping over the steps to the Kyoshi dojo, Sokka burst through the door flap. A girl wearing a green gown stood across the floor with her back turned to him.

"Suki?" he shouted hopefully.

"Sokka?" she asked with surprise, turning as she did so.

Sokka lunged forward, wrapping both arms around her in embrace, recognizing her even without the Kyoshi Warrior makeup.

"Suki!" he cried thankfully, squeezing her tight, "I was so worried, I thought something had happened and—"

Suki patted him on the back lightly with one hand, head pressed into his shoulder, her tears interrupting Sokka's elation.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slowly pulling away from her before his eyes flew open, wide with shock.

Wiping a tear filled eyes with the palm of her hand—her only only hand Sokka realized, Suki stood before him, her left arm completely missing from her trembling frame.

"It had to be amputated," she choked out before Sokka took her in his arms again, "the wound got infected and—"

"It's okay," he interrupted, managing to find his voice, "Everything is going to be okay."

"Sokka..." she trailed off.

"Hey," he interrupted her, holding her at arms length and smiling gently, "Nothings changed, you'll see." Seeing Suki smiling weakly in return, holding his left hand with her right from where it lay on her shoulder, he continued, "I've got to get something from Appa's saddle. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Alright," Suki manged to reply, slowly letting go of Sokka's hand.

As he turned away and quickly paced across the dojo floor, holding his grin, Sokka pushed the door flap aside and stepped outside. Closing the door behind him, he took one step before falling back against the wall, eyes locked shut as he slid down to a seated position. Pulling his knees to his chest, he buried his anguished face in his arms, breathing hard to avoid releasing the pain that swelled inside him.

How could he have let this happen?

* * *

**Author's Note: **Due to an incredibly insightful review from Wren Sharpbeak, the ending to last chapter is slightly modified. I like it much better now, hopefully you all will too :) Thanks Wren!

Also special thanks to fuzzytomato for making a few suggestions in here; she'll likely be helping me out throughout the future. We're writing a Blue Spirit/Painted Lady fic at the moment, so if you're interested put me on alerts, we should be getting that done soon :)


	21. The Last Warrior of Kyoshi part 2

Good grief. It's been awhile, hasn't it? Serious writers block lack of interest x life is the most disgusting equation I've ever encountered, but luckily I've removed some of the variables, so hopefully thats over with. You know how unreliable I am though, so I can't guarantee when the next chapter will show up. Anyway, if you're still reading I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter. Thanks. :)

* * *

Zuko had neglected his morning bending routine for weeks and getting some practice done felt good. Throwing the final flaming punch, he relaxed from his stance and stood upright in the sand. Looking out towards the water, he watched the sun glimmer over the calm water. It was the wrong time of the year for Elephant Koi and without their disrupting the ocean surface, the horizon was relaxing.

Turning from the sea, Zuko picked up his shirt and pulled it over his head as he made his way back to the village.

As he strode through the central street, he couldn't help but notice the sudden hush in the people that were out and about. Turning his head, he watched a group of men and women whisper among each other, shooting him worried glances.

Not watching where he was going, he bumped into a man and turned quickly to apologize, saying, "Sorry, I didn't see you—"

"Just take it and leave me alone!" the man cried out, dropping to his knees and holding up a flower pot in both hands, cowering before the firebender.

"I don't—"

"Don't hurt my dad!" a young girl shrieked suddenly, throwing herself between Zuko and her father, spreading her arms wide.

"I wasn't going to..." Zuko began before trailing off, seeing the girl's frightened yet determined expression as well as her father's general fear.

Frowning at both of them, Zuko snatched the flower pot with a muttered, "Fine."

He didn't understand it. The war was over. He had helped end it. Why were these people acting like he was going to hurt them?

Holding the tiny flower pot in one hand, three mangy, yellow petaled flowers sprouting from its center, Zuko approached the building where he and his friends were housed. It wasn't exactly an apartment fit for royalty, let alone the Avatar, but it was the best Kyoshi had to offer.

Katara, Anila, and Aang trooped at the front door in time to greet Zuko, all three pausing to look at the flower pot in his hand. Zuko looked at the flower pot as well, as if he too was wondering where it came from.

"Out picking flowers?" Katara barely managed, biting her lip to keep from laughing out loud while Anila and Aang snickered behind her.

Zuko threw the two airbenders a disgruntled look, causing Anila to cover her mouth with both hands and smiled shyly from behind while Aang folded his hands behind his back and whistled casually, avoiding eye contact with the firebender.

In a last attempt to save face, the firebender bowed and held out the flower pot to the still giggling Katara, saying , "For you, of course."

Katara blinked several times, her laughter gone, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she replied with an awkward smile, "Uh...thanks...Zuko." Taking the flower pot in both hands, she recovered quickly, smiling with amusement once again; he wasn't serious of course. As she set the pot on the deck behind her, she commented sarcastically, "There, now everyone can see the flowers you picked."

Zuko rolled his eyes in exasperation as both Katara and Anila walked off, both trying to keep from laughing. He should have known that carrying a flower pot was going to get him into another annoying situation. Stupid Kyoshi residents. This was their fault.

As the two girl's rounded the corner with Momo gliding with them, Aang, who had remained behind, shifted his gaze over to Zuko.

Zuko regarded the Avatar with a raised eyebrow, expectantly awaiting the younger boy to crack a joke.

Aang narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips suspiciously as he looked up at the firebender.

Sniffing suddenly, the airbender's face contorted and he turned his head way exclaiming, "Achoo!", sending a blast of air into the tiny flower pot causing it to smash into the wall of the building and fall in heap next to the door. Satisfied, Aang turned back to Zuko, rubbing his nose and giving an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I guess I don't know my own strength" he shrugged before ambling off after Katara and Anila.

Zuko only rolled his eyes and shook his head as he walked up the steps and passed through the doorway.

Toph sat a low table laid out with food, bringing a fruit tart up to her mouth but pausing as she felt the vibrations of another person across the wood floor. Recognizing the firebender as he let out a long sigh and sat down next to her, she put down her food and leaned back in her chair.

"Okay Princy, what's the problem,"

"I don't have a problem," Zuko growled.

"Woh," Toph replied in mock disarmament, "didn't mean to unleash your temper there, Hothead."

"What temper!"

"Hey, no need to get all worked up," Toph replied calmly, picking up a cup of tea and sipping carefully before continuing, "I'm just being my caring self and trying to figure out whats wrong."

"Nothing's wrong."

"I don't need earthbending to know that you're lying."

Exhaling in annoyance for what felt like the millionth time that day, Zuko began, "Fine. I'm frustrated that everyone here is afraid of me. Just walking down the street they scramble out of sight and those that don't watch me like I'm going to eat them."

Shaking her head and picking up her food once again, Toph replied, "Well what do you expect, you're Fire Nation, there's been a hundred year war; do you seriously think they're going to forget all that?"

"The Water Tribe did!" Zuko snapped, glaring at the blind girl.

"Some of them did," Toph corrected, turning to face the firebender, "You don't think Kinto was the only one angry and afraid of you, do you?

"Well, no, I—" he began, taken aback by her seriousness.

"Face it Zuko, not everyone is going to accept you as one of the good guys. The war is over but some can't forget what happened." Hearing another lengthy sigh from the boy, she asked again, "What, you don't believe me?"

"I didn't expect to hear that from a twelve year old girl," Zuko admitted, rubbing his forehead.

"Twelve year old girl? Listen up Sparky, you better not forget I'm the greatest, toughest earthbender alive or you'll be carrying me around all day, and not with that stupid chair you made Sokka and Aang build."

"Okay, okay," Zuko replied, holding up his hands to avoid the punch in the shoulder he knew was coming, "It's just surprising that you have answers to everything, thats all. Don't you have any problems of your own?"

"Hey, whats for breakfast?" Sokka asked, interrupting the conversation as he entered the room, striding purposefully toward the table laid out with food.

"Wow, Snoozles, you're finally awake," Toph greeted, holding up a plate, "I told them to double the food since you'd eat about five servings yourself. If you try the—"

"Okay, thanks Toph," Sokka said, ignoring her as he grabbed several items before turning to leave, "I'm going to see Suki, see you guys later."

Toph's expression fell as the boy left and she set the plate back down on the table dejectedly.

"It's always food with him," Zuko said, shaking his head with amusement before turning to seek Toph's downcast expression. "Are you okay?"

Looking up suddenly, having almost forgot Zuko was there with her, Toph replied, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Punching Zuko swiftly in the shoulder, Toph growled, "I warned you before. I hope you're feeling strong because you're carrying me around the rest of the day."

* * *

"Okay, ready to train?" Aang asked enthusiastically.

"Ready!" Anila nodded, holding out her staff.

"Alright, we're going to play a game called keep away, Katara and I—"

"Aang, we're supposed to be training, not playing games," Katara interrupted her friend, placing a hand on Anila's shoulder, "She's never going to improve if she doesn't practice."

"Thats the whole idea, Katara," Aang explained with a grin, "Just let me explain. You and I are going to pass bubble of water between ourselves, Anila's job is to pop the bubble with her airbending."

Holding a hand to her chin contemplatively, Katara nodded, "I have to admit, that does sound like a good training routine."

Momo flew down to land on Anila's shoulder, letting out a sharp chirping noise.

"Momo thinks so too," Anila laughed.

"No one ever said training couldn't be fun," Aang said excitedly as he whipped up the air under himself into an air scooter and zipped a short distance away.

"Wow!" Anila cried wide eyed, "How did you do that?"

"The air scooter is pretty advanced," Aang grinned, "I'll teach it to you later, right now lets work on the air blasts I taught you in the South Pole."

Standing between Aang and Katara, her staff at the ready, Anila watched as Katrara drew a long stream of water from her water skin and formed it into a small bubble like blob. Throwing her hands forward, Katara shot the ball of water and, not anticipating the speed, Anila could only watch as it sailed over her head to Aang.

The bald headed airbender, caught the water neatly in mid air, twisting it around himself with his hands before sending it back to Katara.

Ready this time, Anila raised her staff and swung outward, sending a swish of air straight into the bubble. But the blob of water continued to sail by unaffected to where Katara stood.

Anila through a worried glance to Aang, who responded with, "You'll have to bend harder than that!"

Determined to show both benders what she could, Anila widened her stance and arched her feet slightly, ready to bounce into action.

"Watch this Momo," the young girl said under her breath, "I'll get it this time."

Katara let the water fly, and with a quick underhanded swing of her staff, Anila projected a sharp gale into the bubble, popping it instantly and sending hundreds of tiny water droplets raining down on Momo.

The little lemur shrieked indignantly, shaking the water from his fur, too which Anila winced apologetically

"That was great Anila!" Katara shouted her encouragement, prompting the airbender to look up with a smile.

"Yeah, you're really getting the hang of it!" Aang added, "Think you can do it without your staff?"

Anila's smile shrunk but she spoke up timidly, "I can try."

Again Katara and Aang began passing the bubble of water between them, and Anila, now without her staff, began attempting some of the air punches and slashes Aang had taught her. Despite having a much harder time bending without her staff, she continued on without it, wanting to be every bit the airbender as her teacher.

Aang had to admit, he was proud of her. From the short amount of time since they had started training, already Anila was showing an incredible amount of improvement. It would still be awhile before she earned her tattoos, but she was definitely making headway.

Despite this, he couldn't help but grow slightly bored as he continued passing the water to Katara and watch Anila make an effort to pop it, only succeeding every long while. His gaze shifted from Anila to Katara, watching her receive the water and then toss it back. It reminded him of when they used to train and how much fun it had been sparring with her.

These thoughts in mind as he caught the water with a smirk and sent it back, this time with a slight curve in its trajectory.

Taken off guard by the change speed, Katara made eye contact with Aang, catching his smirk and the twinkle in his eye. Knowing a challenge when she saw one, her lips twisted into a smirk of her own as she twisted the water in her hands and slung it back at Aang, adding a back spin she hoped would catch him off guard.

Catching the water easily, Aang shook his head condescendingly and sent it flying back with a speed that changed the shape of the water as it traveled through the air.

Standing in between the two experienced benders, Anila watched helplessly as their training session turned into a sparring match. It wasn't long before multiple projectiles were being tossed back and forth and seeing no end in site, Anila sat down next to Momo.

The little lemur watched the flying blobs of water overhead attentively, barely noticing the airbender.

Assuming the lotus position, Anila sighed, "I guess meditation is important too."

"Gotcha!" Katara cried victoriously, splashing Aang in the face and pinning him to the ground with her body.

"Sorry Katara," Aang smirked, sucking in a long breath and exhaling sharply, sending himself flying out from under her grip and tumbling backwards before landing his feet, "It's not that easy to catch an airbender."

"That might be true," Katara said, dusting herself off as she got to her feet, "But we were having a waterbending duel. Airbending is cheating, so I win by default."

"But—" Aang started to protest, before Katara stopped him.

"Oh, Aang," she said in distress, looking over to where Anila sat in the grass with her staff lying next to her, "We forgot all about Anila!"

Looking to the other airbender worriedly, Aang replied, "Well, she seems okay. I mean, she is meditating, thats an important part of bending, right?"

"Well..." Katara hesitated, "Yeah. Yeah, of course it is. And we weren't sparring that long anyway, and I'm sure she needed a break after all the training we had been doing."

"Right," Aang agreed, looking to Anila again as she meditated silently, seemingly undisturbed by them. He hoped she wasn't upset that he had been distracted during their training again.

* * *

"Hey," Sokka said, running up to Suki from behind and slowing to walk beside her.

"Oh, hi," Suki replied, forcing a smile as he joined her.

After a moment of silence, Sokka spoke up again, trying to make conversation, "So, are you always up this early?"

"Sokka, it's almost mid afternoon," Suki answered, looking at him incredulously.

"That's pretty early by my standards," Sokka said with a grin, hoping to see her laugh but only getting another forced smile. Worry crossed his face and he asked, "So, where are we going?"

Suki kept her eyes ahead as she replied with a heavy tension in her voice, "I have to pay respect to my warriors."

Sokka nodded his understanding, and, trying too change the subject, began, "I've noticed you haven't been wearing your makeup anymore. You look good. Not that you didn't look good before! It's just, well—"

"I don't deserve to wear it after what happened," Suki interrupted Sokka's awkward compliment, causing him to stare at her in disbelief, "I'm not a Kyoshi Warrior anymore."

Turning to face Sokka, she spoke up again, "If you'll excuse me, I have to be alone."

Sokka nodded his head dumbly and watched as she turned away and entered the dojo.

Not a Kyoshi Warrior anymore? Sokka shook his head in an effort to expel the thought, but it remained. Something was definitely wrong.

He knew the loss of her warriors lay heavily on her heart, but there was more to it, he felt it just standing next to her and in the tone of her voice.

Staring at the porch outside the building, he recalled how just yesterday he had collapsed with grief at discovering Suki's injuries. It had killed him to realize the pain she had went through, but even more importantly than her lost arm, he worried that she lost something on the inside too. The Suki he knew was strong willed, fierce, courageous; but now she was...different.

Lost in thought, Sokka looked up suddenly as Suki reappeared in the doorway.

Noticing the shimmer of a tear in her eye, he waited for her to come down the steps before speaking gently, "Suki, we need to talk."

"I understand if you want to leave here," Suki replied, hanging her head, "You kept your promise and came back. You don't have to stick around if you don't want to."

"I'm not leaving you!" Sokka shouted, almost angrily.

Suki's face contorted with a fury of her own, but before she could reply Oyaji came ambling toward both teens, shouting, "Come quickly, there's trouble!"

* * *

Both Sokka and Suki approached the group, looking beyond them to see an short old man with a grubby gray beard. Aang, Katara, and Anila stood looking at the man curiously. Zuko arrived shortly after Sokka and Suki, carrying Toph on his back.

Sokka looked at the firebender amusedly, asking, "Lose a bet?"

"Might as well have," Zuko replied, rolling his eyes as Toph slid down from his back to her feet.

Suki seemed too bristle at Zuko's entrance and Sokka, taking notice of her apprehension, quickly stepped forward, saying, "Oh, Suki, I should introduce you—"

"Fire Lord Zuko," Suki nodded with distaste.

"Just Zuko, Kyoshi Warrior Suki," Zuko replied with a bow, refusing his title and ignoring the hostile spark in her tone.

"Just Suki," the girl answered, her face softening with hurt and her single arm crossing her stomach to hold her side.

Zuko looked at her, uncertain what he said to disarm her, but was interrupted from speaking as the old man pushed his way between them angrily.

"This is no time for introductions! Chin is in trouble! Something has to be done!"

"Woh, slow down, who's Chin?" Aang questioned.

"Who's Chin?!" the old man whirled around on the Avatar, "Do you have to hear the story again?"

"Again?" Katara asked, looking from Aang to the old man, "Have you two met?"

"Of course! Don't you remember?" the old man asked, folding his arms and frowning indignantly.

Aang looked at the grubby old man, who's right eye bulged noticeably on his wrinkled features.

Suddenly recognition dawned on him as he recalled the man shouting, "We used to be a great society before you killed our leader, now look at us!"

"I remember now! You're that creepy guy from the town of Chin!" Aang announced aloud.

"Of course I am!" the old man spat, "Wait, creepy?"

"What can we do to help you?" Katara said quickly, glaring at Aang for being rude.

"Yes, we need help!" the man confirmed, forgetting Aang's insult, "The town has been invaded!"

Everyone seemed awaken at this information, looking to each other with seriousness..

"Invaded?" Sokka asked, "But by who?"

"Azula," Zuko spoke up, earning glances from everyone, prompting him to continue, "When she escaped, she took enough firebenders with her to cause some serious trouble. She could have taken Chin easily."

"Firebenders?" the old man looked at Zuko incredulously, "Haven't you heard? The war is over! We've been invaded by earthbenders!"

"Earthbenders?" everyone shouted at once in confusion.

* * *

"Suki?" Sokka asked tentatively as he entered the girl's home.

She stood over a wash basin, furiously trying to scrub at dish with her single hand.

Crossing the room to her side, Sokka took hold of her arm gently, prompting her to stop her work as he said, "You slipped away while I wasn't looking. That old guy told us that a rebel group of earthbender's took over the city, though for what reasons, we don't know yet. We're getting ready to leave."

Suki avoided Sokka's meaningful gaze and held her silence, staring down at the dirty dish in the wash basin.

"I want you to come with us."

Shaking off his hand, Suki resumed he scrubbing at the dish, furiously stating, "Sokka, I told you, I'm not a warrior anymore. I'll just get in the way."

"That's not true!" Sokka quickly defended, his own voice rising, "You're one of the best warriors I know! It was you that taught me so much about fighting, it was you who-"

"Urgh!" Suki growled, throwing down the scrub brush she'd been using before shouting, "Don't you get it? I have one arm! I can't even clean this dish, how do you expect me to fight?"

Straight faced, Sokka replied, "You took me down with one arm when we first met."

"You still remember that?" Suki questioned quietly, her expression changing from anger to sadness, picking up a towel and squeezing it in her hand before she found her voice again, "Sokka, I failed. I fought Azula and lost and my warriors payed the price. By all rights I should be dead too."

"No!" Sokka spoke up quickly, "You did everything you could and so did they! They fought and died bravely, don't dishonor them by giving up the title Kyoshi Warrior."

Suki opened her mouth to reply but Sokka only continued, "There was a time when I wished you weren't a warrior, because I didn't want you to get into trouble if I wasn't around to protect you. I still want to protect you, but I never want you to stop being who you are, and Suki, you're a warrior."

When Suki didn't respond Sokka's hopeful expression fell.

Turning to leave, he paused in the doorway, saying without looking back, "We're leaving as soon as Appa is loaded up. If you don't want to say goodbye, I understand."

Suki only managed to look up after Sokka left. Dropping the towel she had been squeezing in agitation, she crossed the floor to the window. Looking outside for any sign of Sokka but not finding him, her gaze drifted to the town square where the statue of Avatar Kyoshi stood. Avatar Kyoshi, the founder of the Kyoshi Warriors, the woman every girl on the island aspired to be like. What would she have done in the face of failure?

* * *

"Everything secure?" Aang asked as he leapt aboard Appa.

"Yep," Zuko nodded, "We're loaded up and ready to go."

"Ahem," Toph coughed from the ground, "Forgetting our deal, Sparky?"

"My mistake, Lady Bei Fong," Zuko replied sarcastically, sliding off Appa to the girl's side to allow the girl to ride on his back.

"Lady Bei Fong?" Toph replied, her face contorting with disgust, "Never mind, you don't have to carry me anymore, just don't call me that again."

"Whatever you say, Lady Bei F—"

Using her earthbending to raise herself to Zuko's height, Toph prodded him in the chest and interrupted his humor, "Listen Princey, I'm the name caller around here, so if you don't learn your place I'm going to give you a royal butt kicking, understand?"

Pallid, Zuko nodded dumbly, stumbling through his response, "Yes, of course Lady B—I mean Toph! The greatest earthbender, the uh, the..."

Satisfied, Toph bent the earth below her feet to allow her to step into the saddle leaving Zuko on the ground below.

Walking over to Appa to climb aboard, Anila looked at the pale firebender with concern, asking, "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about him," Toph answered for Zuko, "Earthbenders make him nervous and he's not looking forward to going to Chin."

Forcing an awkward smile at Zuko, Anila climbed aboard and sat next to Toph, admitting, "I'm kind of scared too. I've never fought anyone before."

"It's a piece of cake," Toph replied with a grin, "Stick with me and you'll be fine."

Anila smiled with her friend's reassurance and watched as Katara climbed up next to her with Momo on her shoulder.

"We should get going, has anyone seen Sokka," Katara asked.

As if in response, Sokka climbed aboard next to Zuko, speaking up unenthusiastically, "Yeah, I'm here, we can go now."

"Everything okay?" Katara asked with concern, noticing her brother's downcast demeanor, "Did you say goodbye to Suki?"

"Yeah," Sokka managed, staring at his boots, "Everything's fine."

"Aren't you coming too?" Aang called down to the old man, "We can take you back to Chin."

"Are you kidding?" the old man gawked, "I'm staying here where its safe!"

Shrugging, Aang took hold of the reins and cried, "Appa, yip y—"

"Wait!"

Everyone turned in the direction of the cry and Sokka stood to his feet, recognizing the voice. Running along side Oyaji, Suki ran forward in her Kyoshi Warrior regalia, her face painted in the traditional style of her warriors. Stopping short beside Appa, she looked up at Sokka, an apology written on her face.

"I'm coming too," Suki finally exhaled, looking up at Sokka meaningfully.

Ready to leap off Appa to help her aboard, Sokka stopped short at the saddles edge as she leapt up, catching the side of the saddle with her single hand, and teeth grit with determination, she levered herself aboard.

"I knew you'd come," Sokka said with a smile.

Smiling back, Suki replied, "Come on, we've got a town to save."


	22. The Last Warrior of Kyoshi part 3

With the roll of his tail and a bellowing growl Appa descended from the clouds, his companions riding safe in his saddle as the sky bison sailed on the wind. Looking out anxiously from where he sat behind his pet's head, Aang held a hand to his brow to block out the sun.

As they approached the cliff top that held the town of Chin, several figures emerged from a shrine on the cliff's edge to wave up at the Avatar.

Tugging his bison's reins, Aang called out, "Land down there Appa, we need to find out whats going on."

As Appa's feet planted firmly on the cliff top and Aang leapt to the ground, the small group of people that had waved could be heard whispering excitedly, a woman's voice carrying over the rest, "It's the Avatar! I knew he'd come!"

"What going on?" Sokka demanded as he hopped out of Appa's saddle, soon to be joined by his friends as well as Momo, perched happily on Zuko's shoulder, "We've been told the town has been attacked by earthbenders."

One of the men, recognized as a village officer by his clothing, nodded, droning out a long reply, "Yep, showed up this morning. Some escaped on fishing ships, others barricaded themselves in their homes. As for us, we've managed to stay hidden in the Shrine of Kyoshi."

"Shrine of Kyoshi?" Aang began to question interestedly.

"We rebuilt the Shrine of Chin since last you were here," another man explained quickly, eyes shifting around worriedly, "but decided to rename it in honor of—"

"We're here about your earthbender problem," Toph interrupted, staring blindly at the small group of townspeople, "One of your fisherman managed to escape to Kyoshi Island and asked for our help, now do you need it or not?"

"And why would earthbenders attack an Earth Kingdom town in the first place?" Katara added confusedly, worry written on her face, "It doesn't make any sense."

Nodding again stoically, the slow speaking guard explained, "They're a rebel group, claiming to right the wrongs committed by the Fire Nation during the war and give back to the Earth Kingdom what was theirs."

"I don't understand," Zuko said as Momo watched him shake his head in confusion, "If they want to fight the Fire Nation then why did they come here?"

"For the Fire Nation colonials that arrived here in the last months of the war," the man said gravely, at which Zuko's eyes widened with sudden understanding, "all the colonials that had settled here were rounded up by the soldiers, along with anyone who tried to defend them. General Fong and his men are planning to do the same to the rest of the colonies."

"Fong is behind this?!" Sokka growled furiously,"Of all the...if there's anyone who hates the Fire Nation and is crazy enough to take matters into his own hands, it would be him."

"They're not here to enact justice, they're just a bunch of ruffians!" a woman cried angrily, "They're looting the town, claiming the army needs supplies and that we owe it to them for their services!"

"We have to stop Fong," Aang spoke out determinedly to his friends, "And we have to stop his soldiers." Turning to the Chin official, Aang asked again, "Where can we find them?"

"You might find Fong at the statehouse, dealing with the mayor most likely."

Nodding, Aang turned back to his friends saying, "Alright, you guys take care of the soldiers. Keep these people safe. I'll take care of General Fong."

"Aang, wait. What about the prisoners?" Katara asked, "Someone should try to get them out in case something goes wrong."

"The prisoners are being held in the town prison if that helps," the guard spoke up.

"We'll free the prisoners," Sokka replied confidently, motioning to himself and Suki, giving the warrior a reassuring look she tried to return, "There'll probably be a few guards there but nothing we can't manage between us. Katara, you Zuko and Toph take care of the soldiers."

"What about me?" Anila asked, looking among her older friends and unsure where she fit in with the plan.

"You're with us," Zuko spoke up from beside her gravely, feeling a painful sense of responsibility for the situation and the well being of the Fire Nation colonials involved.

"Yeah, its time we put your bending to the test," Toph said with grin, nuding the airbender before lacing her fingers and cracking her knuckles in front of her.

"Alright," Aang said, snapping open the glider wings of his staff, "Lets do this."

* * *

Momo let out a soft trill into the oppressive silence as he took to the air from Zuko's shoulder. Broken wooden beams and signs of struggle displayed themselves along the street, but no townspeople and no earthbenders.

"Where is everybody?" Anila asked quietly from Zuko's side as they walked with Katara and Toph.

"They probably have their camp outside the village," Zuko answered, looking around, "Or they're already preparing to leave. Either way, they're not here."

"They certainly didn't bother cleaning up before they left," Katara said, frowning at the littered and torn up streets as well as the broken doors and windows, "Maybe we should split up and make sure they're gone."

"Quiet, I feel something," Toph spoke up abruptly, placing a hand on the ground to get a better sense of things. "This way," she spoke up again, already running to where she pointed ahead, leading them down an alley.

Emerging on the other side, the group of four ran straight into a squad of earthbenders carting supplies out of the town. Dressed in the traditional Earth Kingdom soldier uniforms, they were indistinguishable from the Earth Kingdoms real soldiers.

"Drop it and surrender!" Katara commanded immediately, whipping out a stream of water and holding it threateningly in front of them.

The earthbenders paused, looking at one another questioningly for a moment before one stepped forward.

"Get out of here, we have no quarrel with you and we're not going to stand down to a little waterbender."

Prompted by his words, Toph drew up the earth from below her feet to her fists, Anila whipped up her staff in what she hoped was an intimidating manner, and Zuko ignited blades of fire in his hands.

The earthbenders looked from the waterbender, earthbender, and airbender, but it was Zuko who ultimately caught their attention.

"He's a firebender!"

Chaos erupted as the cart of supplies hastily dropped to the ground in a cloud of dust as the entire group of earthbenders moved as a single unit, planting a foot forward and sweeping a hand forward to launch a barrage of earthen projectiles in Zuko's direction.

Katara and Toph reacted immediately, their elements snapping into action to defend their friend, water slashing and rock smashing into the earthbender's volley, reducing the onslaught to rubble which disintegrated as it met two waves of fire from Zuko.

Weaving a razor edged ribbon of water, Katara stepped forward, teeth grit in determined fury as she evaded the rushing earthbenders with careful steps, cutting between them and their rocky assaults. Stone shattered around her as she sliced through rock and debris with her strand of water before concentrating on a single soldier and sending a spout of water into his chest. As he flew backwards Katara ducked low to narrowly escape the giant earthen fists of another man swinging over her head before sweeping a tentacle of water under the soldier's feet.

Ready to take on the little earthbending girl in front of them, two full grown earthbenders spread their feet solidly and threw up their hands in a ready stance, only to find themselves swallowed up abruptly by the earth below them as she raised her hands heavily and brought them crashing down. Smirking at the vibration of another soldier approaching behind her, Toph spun around with a playful grin on her face, sliding her foot as she did so before stomping hard to send a pillar of rock skyrocketing under the surprised man's feet and sending him sailing through the air to land on top of two more charging earthbenders.

Astounded at the fight around her, watching as Katara and Zuko worked together to take down several men at once, Anila found herself barely able to react as one of the soldiers approached her. Aang's teachings escaped her as she backed up wide eyed, desperately swinging her staff at odd intervals but unable to produce anything more than the swishing sound of her staff. The guard seemed ready to laugh at her efforts before a wave of earth reared out of the ground and collapsed over him.

Toph slid into view in a cloud of dust calling out to Anila, "Stay focused, don't let them intimidate you. These guys are—Behind you!"

Grey eyes wide with shock, Anila whirled around in fright, her staff swinging as she did so and a current of air born of fear and necessity burst into the soldier sneaking up on her, sending him stumbling backwards before falling over and skidding across the ground.

"Woah," Toph said, surprise on her face for a moment before her grin returned, "Nice."

"Thanks," Anila replied, startled at her own actions and looking at her staff as if it had done the bending for her before looking back at Toph, "I don't know what happened, I just kind of—watch out!"

Anila's warning was only seconds too late as Toph raised an earthen fist to smash into the round Earth Kingdom helmet over her shoulder.

"Got him."

* * *

Swooping down onto a small balcony, Aang twirled his glider back into his staff before shifting up to the side of the building. Peeking through the open entranceway, his gray eyes scanned the room for movement and, seeing nothing except a disarray of furniture, he eased up his guard and strode into the room quietly.

Making for a far doorway, his foot rolled over a broken chair leg and with a cry of dismay as he wavered to and fro he collapsed with a loud thud.

Pulling himself up quickly, staff held at the ready, his eyes roving around the room wildly for the tumult of earthbenders he expected, the stillness and silence quickly retook him.

Glancing to the floor, he realized the small bag which held the face of the spirit Avatar had come unbuckled in his fall. Stooping down, he quickly repositioned it across his back before crossing the room, more carefully this time.

Making his way down a stairway and still finding no one, Aang felt the rising doubt that Fong wasn't in the building anymore.

The sound of a pot shattering down the hallway had Aang spinning around anxiously, holding his staff defensively once again, expecting the worst. As silence returned he carefully made his way down the hall and slid the single door at it's end open a crack, giving himself a sliver of view into the room.

Clean carpet, a tipped over chair, a bureau against the wall, small side table, broken pot—

Aang threw the door open and assumed his fighting stance, but straightened up and cocked an eyebrow at the sight before him.

Next to the table where the pot had likely rested before breaking was a large decorative curtain that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. But it was less the curtain or any appreciation for the artistry involved in making such a piece that caught Aang's attention so much as the protruding lump _behind _the curtain that shifted around slightly.

Thrusting his staff forward, Aang let a blast of air fly across the room and catch the curtain, blowing it off the hooks that held it revealing Mayor Tong, standing on one foot and cowering away wide eyed as he shrieked with horror.

Recovering from his own cry of surprise, Aang asked urgently, "Mayor Tong, its okay, I'm here to take care of Fong and his men!"

"Well what are you doing here? Go get rid of them!" the mayor shouted indignantly, straightening his clothing and trying to regain his composure.

"Uh, yeah, thats why I'm here, to get rid of them."

Glaring at the Avatar, Tong began again, "Well? Don't just stand there, does it look like they're here? Hmm?" Bending over to look under a table, the mayor called out, "Nope, no earthbenders."

Rolling his eyes in frustration, Aang asked, "Well if Fong and his earthbenders aren't here, where are they?"

"Where are they? Where are they!" the mayor shouted, raising his voice, "They're here, in Chin! My town, my beautiful town!"

"But you just said..." Aang began before shrinking under the glare of the mayor, "Never mind. Where can I find General Fong?"

"Oh, their leader," Mayor Tong said disgustedly, "He came storming in here awhile ago. Didn't scare me at all, I would have taught him a lesson or too if..." He trailed off as Aang met him with a glare of his own and quickly finished, "He went to the prison."

Aang's eyes widened at the revelation.

"Oh, no."

* * *

Two guards stood outside the Chin prison entrance, stern faces watchful for anyone approaching the building. Despite this, neither were prepared for the blue flash of Sokka's boomerang as it panged off the first soldiers helmet and collided with the second man's head in the same manner.

Cringing as he bowed and clutched his skull in pain, the first guard recovered and looked up to barely take in the image of a Water Tribe Warrior swinging his club.

The second soldier had a moment to react and managed to raise a block of earth before having it knocked from his hand by a razor edged fan. As the fan blade swished closed, the guard raised a hand to strike down the single armed, painted warrior in front of him, only to be neatly disabled with a quick jab of the fan's blunt end into the crook of his arm and a final rap across the head.

Sokka couldn't help but smirk as Suki straitened up with her foe taken down.

Looking at him uncertainly, she asked, "What's so funny?"

"I thought you were supposed to be helpless," Sokka joked, a playful grin on his face.

Sighing as she opened the door, Suki threw Sokka a smirk of her own commenting, "I meant helpless compared to warriors like you, but I guess I was over estimating someone."

"And who..." Sokka trailed off as Suki disappeared into the building and the realization that she was referring to him sunk in.

"Now wait just a minute!" he shouted indignantly as he opened the door and charged in after Suki, continuing his ramble in a half joking manner, "Its one thing to say you're confident as a warrior, and I'd even go so far to say you're about as skilled as me, but better? Thats a bit of an," his speech began to slow down as he finally caught up to Suki, who stood staring straight ahead at the man facing the jail cells away from them, "overstatement."

With Sokka's last utterance, the man turned, stroking his beard once before speaking.

"Sokka, how good of you to join us."

"Fong," Sokka growled, taking an unconscious step in front of Suki protectively.

"Really, Sokka, I'm surprised," Fong began again, a look of amusement on his face, "I know the Avatar and you like doing things your own way, but treason? Siding with the enemy, with the side of injustice? I never imagined either of you stooping so low."

"The war is over, Fong!" Sokka shouted, "The Earth Kingdom is at peace with the Fire Nation and there is a peaceful way to solve whatever problem you have with the Fire Nation colonials."

"Wrong!" Fong bellowed, his formerly amused expression creasing into anger, "Ba Sing Se is at peace with the Fire Nation! They know nothing of the suffering we faced, hiding behinds their walls throughout the war. The Fire Nation still lives in our lands, their colonies continue to thrive on Earth Kingdom soil. When the Earth King doesn't care about the injustices committed against the Earth Kingdom, then I'm forced to take matters into my own hands."

"Not without a fight," Suki stated crossly, glaring at the general, her fan unfolding as her arm shot out in an aggressive stance.

"I hardly consider a nonbending, one armed girl and a—"

Fong's taunt hardly left his lips before Sokka lunged forward, fury written across his face as he belted the general's raised boulder defense aside and thrust his elbow into the man's chest, sending him crashing hard into the wall behind.

"What, can't stand to hear the truth?" Fong shouted angrily as he regained his footing, sliding his foot across the floor to send a jagged wall of rock splintering across the floor.

Sokka dove to escape, narrowly missing spike of earth while Suki ran past him, lashing out across her body, letting out a strained grunt as she used her fan to deflect the miniature boulders Fong flung at her. Close enough to strike, her arm shot in, out, and across as if with a life of its own, metal striking metal as her fan's golden edge barely missed Fong as he deflected her blows with his armored wrist guards. As she forced Fong back into the prison wall, Suki took advantage of his moment of surprise and struck high, shredding the leather covering his upper arm, dying his sleeve red.

Suki's satisfaction was short lived as Fong's other arm came into view, his hand encased in the stone of the wall. She barely had time to raise her arm to protect her as the earthen fist sent her sprawling.

"No!" Sokka shouted as he ran to join her fight against the general.

"Sokka wait!" Suki cried warningly from where she lay, struggling to get up as she watched him charg the earthbender.

Her shout went unnoticed as Sokka launched himself at Fong, catching a stomach full of rock before collapsing to the ground unmoving.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Firstly, I hate taking so long to get this thing updated. Apologies all around. Special thanks to fuzzytomato for being my Avatar buddy and giving me constant encouragement to write.

Secondly, this is not the end of this 'episode'. I have once again planned too much for too little space, so I'm extending the 'episode' a chapter.

Similarly, this will be my last serious attempt at writing in the episode format. Its a fun format, I recomend it if you're writing a short story, but writing something epic, especially if its your first story endevour...yeah, it gets difficult. I've decided to loosen up with this story, just write the scenes I have planned and feel like writing without all the extra inbetweens that I might have tried to think up.

Thirdly, I've made a screen manipulation of Aang teaching Anila to fly Appa. Check it out:

server3. uploadit. org/ files /Ceilick-Learningtofly1. jpg

Fourthly, next chapter will be up soon. Now, I know my definition of soon usually means "four or more weeks", but seriously, I've got half of it written already. Expect it no later than next week ;)

Lastly, have you seen the videos released at the New York Comic Con? I won't spoil anything, but my reaction was something to the extent of, "WWwwwoooooowwwwOOOAAaaaaaohahoooohhh!!" Seriously, it rocks, feel free to spaz with me.


	23. The Last Warrior of Kyoshi part 4

**Author's Note:** I fail at keeping promises. I know I said this would have been done days ago, sorry it didn't happen.

* * *

Anila and Toph fought side by side in the grassy field between Chin and the rebel soldier's camp while Katara and Zuko fought nearby. There were less soldiers than expected in Fong's troop, but still enough to pose a threat to the town, let alone the four benders that stood against them.

Even so, Toph was enjoying herself. Fighting earthbenders was just like the Earth Rumble tournaments all over again.

Anila, on the other hand, had no fighting experience and found each struggle terrifying just as each victory was a soaring triumph.

"Toph, did you see," she laughed, "I blew his hat off!"

"I thought you said this was your first battle, Feather Weight," Toph replied, grinning blindly at the girl as she snapped her elbows back, suctioning a man to his shoulders into the densely packed earth below him.

"Feather Weight?" Anila cried in mock indignity as she released a stream of wind into another assailant.

A distance away from the girls earth exploded in a burst of fire and smoke as Zuko kicked through a boulder aimed for his head, landing heavily on the ground and panting in the cloud of dust rising around him. Before he could catch his breath, the earthbender before him splayed out his fingers, bringing several spikes of rock rising from the ground all pointing in the firebender's direction.

Gulping hard, Zuko brought up a fist full of flames in an attempted preemptive strike only to have his arm knocked aside by another earthbender, sending the ball of fire flying wildly. Lashing out with his other hand, a burst of flames quickly expelled the soldier, but even as he reeled backwards two more appeared in his stead, bending up pillars of earth to lock Zuko's crisscrossed arms in place, preventing him from moving.

Zuko's original opponent smirked triumphantly. "This ends now!"

The heir of the Fire Nation looked up in time to see the earthbender's fist fly forward, launching the earthen spikes with deadly speed towards his body before a stream of water invaded his vision, freezing over the projectiles and smashing them back into the ground.

As the ice shattered, it melted immediately, rising back into the air at Katara's command, collecting at her finger tips as she flew past Zuko and lashed out at the earthbender, a fierce growl escaping her lips as she sent soldier skidding backwards with water whip.

With Katara occupied, the soldiers at Zuko's side brought a gravely blanket of earth from the ground and crushing it around him. Crying out as the strip of earth tightened, snaking around his body in a suffocating grip that shred his through his clothing, razor like shards of rock slicing and grinding into his skin, Zuko suddenly felt a sense of relief as the blanket reversed it's course and left his body altogether.

Toph, sensing her friend's distress, had rushed to Zuko's aid, reversing the flow of rock. As the two earthbenders abandoned their efforts against the firebender in confusion, Toph took full control of the blanket of gravel and with a fluid movement of her arms sent it spiraling through the air. Unable to fully see the stream of sandy earth but sensing her element without its grounded vibrations nonetheless, Toph sent it crashing into both men, knocking them flat.

"Best. Earthbender. Ever," she enunciated as the two soldiers struggled feebly to get back to their feet, "I'm so good I can earthbend like a waterbender!"

"Looks like you've been watching me practice," Katara commented briskly as she took down another earthbender, watching Toph's unusually fluid movements.

"Hey, Zuko does it," Toph defended as she copied Katara's technique, "And I'm sure you could learn a thing or two from earthbending, Sugar Queen."

Fighting without Toph, Anila found her confidence building with each soldier felled. With most of the remaining soldiers concentrated on Zuko and the others, she faced the occasional straggler with a determination to help her friends the best she could.

As she braced herself under the impact of a small boulder, using an overhead strike from her staff to absorb the blast, she swept away the dust and with a quick criss cross action sent several wisps of air crashing into her opponent. Grinning confidently, she turned to see how her friends were faring and her smile quickly faded as she looked up to three earthbenders glaring down at her.

"Anila, hang on!" Toph's voice rang out.

Twisting her body, Toph swept her stream of earth around herself and launched it full force into the ground. Suddenly the dirt below Anila's feet jolted upwards, skyrocketing the airbender over the heads of the soldiers in front of her. Shrieking as she desperately tried to control the air around herself as she went airborne, Anila managed a single aerial somersault before landing behind the earthbenders, sweeping her staff across the ground as she did so to knock them off their feet.

"Toph you can't leave her alone!" Katara shouted as she ran past the blind girl to Anila's side, standing defensively between her and the earthbenders as they picked themselves up.

"It's okay," Anila managed, dusting herself off quickly, "I can—"

"It's alright, just stay behind me," Katara interrupted, keeping the airbender close behind her as she expertly flicked her water whip at the enemy soldiers.

"You doing alright, Princey?" Toph questioned, watching Kataraa defend the aribender as Zuko walked achingly to her side, holding his scraped up chest under his torn shirt with one hand.

"Yeah," Zuko replied sorely, "Try to save me a little faster next time though."

"Sorry, I didn't realize I had to babysit everyone here," Toph snickered.

Rolling his eyes, Zuko shook his head, "If they weren't all ganging up on me then you wouldn't."

"Must be your natural charm that has them attracted, but don't worry, it looks like they're about ready to give up—oo, watch it," she warned as a soldier charged at them from behind.

Shoving her heel backwards, a beam of rock grew out of the ground to meet the enemy soldier, sending him airborne.

"Katara, its okay, I can fight," Anila tried to explain as elder girl held her back with one arm as she faced a group of earthbenders.

"Anila, its alright, I know you want to fight but—"

The waterbender was unable to finish her sentence as the earth beneath her and Anila rose into the air. With the advantage of being a lightweight airbender, Anila manged to float back to the ground without injury, but as the levitated island of earth crumbled in on itself, Katara fell through to have the debris bury her.

Crying out in desperation, Anila sent a blast of air into the pile of rock and dirt to free Katara, but only manged to remove a small portion of the rubble.

Shirking out of the way as flames suddenly shot by her followed by Zuko as he ran forward to fend off the earthbenders, Anila called out, "Toph, Katara's trapped!"

"I got it," Toph replied, already thrusting her arms forward to sweep aside the dirt covering the waterbender. "Go help Zuko," she ordered, showering an encroaching earthbender with rock as a plume of water burst from the mound that held Katara.

Dashing over to Zuko, Anila stopped short as she watched him launch a wave of flames into the regrouped earthbenders before twisting and kicking another barrage of flames the opposite direction into another group. She couldn't get close enough to help and she didn't dare try.

Eyes reflecting the furious orange fire birthed from his own hands, Zuko caught sight of Anila standing fearfully back and called out, "It's okay, I've got them—". A forced gasp escaped his mouth as a rock hit him in the gut, knocking the firebender away from the fray to the ground.

Running forward to Zuko, Anila cried out frantically, "I thought we were winning! What's happening, where did—"

"They regrouped," Zuko growled painfully, causing the girl to wince at his tone, "They think this is just another battle in Sozin's War and they're not going to give up to four benders."

Anila looked up again to the bitter frowns on the earthbender's faces as they began to circle around Zuko and her. She didn't understand; Aang had told her the Fire Nation was behind the war and the loss of his people, but these soldiers weren't Fire Nation and they still wanted to harm them.

As panic gripped her, a shadow crossed over her and as a heavy roar sounded above she looked up in time to see Appa diving down to the ground with Momo clinging to the bison's free flying reins. Landing heavily beside the earthbenders, the bison spun around, knocking the shocked soldiers aside with his tail before raising and slamming it back down, sending the remaining soldiers crashing backwards.

"Appa," Anila managed, a smile returning to her face.

Zuko looked across the grassy field where the soldiers lay, some feebly attempting to get back to their feet but ultimately none rising to fight on.

"Okay, I take back what I said, they're definitely done."

* * *

"Sokka!" Suki cried as she scampered over to the water tribesman's fallen form, "Sokka, are you alright?"

Sokka let out a muffled grown as she knelt by his side but before Suki could get more from him she twisted bodily around as she caught Fong's movement in her peripheral and broke a chunk of rock with an outstretched fan.

As pebbles flew and dust enveloped her and Sokka, a small windy vortex suddenly sprung up, blowing away all traces of Fong's attack.

Suki glanced towards the prison entrance to see Aang, staff pointing past her to the general.

"General Fong," Aang called out authoritatively, "On behalf of the town of Chin I demand that you let the colonists go."

"Why, why should I," Fong asked angrily, pointing at one of the cells behind him where numerous people stood crowded together, watching fearfully through the prison grating, "I'm only enacting justice where justice is due, they're all criminals, war prisoners."

Unmoved, Aang shouted, "This isn't justice, you're only stirring up more trouble." Closing his eyes a moment and taking a breath, Aang continued, "I shouldn't have expected the end of the war to be the end of the world's problems, but both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom are ready to work out their problems in ways other than war and violence. I can't let you ruin that."

"Aang," Suki called out, catching the airbender's attention, "Sokka already tried to reason with him, he won't listen

"We're tired of waiting," General Fong growled, raising a boulder from the ground, "The Fire Nation destroyed everything and we're not sharing what little we have left."

Finished with his piece, the general flung his boulder at Aang. Dropping his staff, the Avatar held out his hands, meeting the boulder head on and breaking it in half with a clap of air, letting both halves fall to the ground on either side of him.

Charging forward with the speed only an airbender could muster, Aang ran forward weaving in and out as Fong directed stone and rock in his direction. Eyes tense as he flew by earthen missiles, missing them by a hairs breadth, flames ignited in Aang's hands as he began fighting back. Crossing his arms to break the Avatar's initial fireballs the general kicked out a wedge of earth in his direction before raising a block of rock to protect himself.

Safe only momentarily, General Fong had to twist away as he turned to find Suki lunging at him from behind. Narrowly dodging her slashing fan, the general stumbled backwards as she growled with exertion and threw a kick trailing her initial strike, her single arm whipping under herself for balance.

Driven out of the cover of his earthen shield, Fong regained his footing just as he turned to face Aang again, too late to defend himself as the Avatar brought up the earth beneath the general's feet to hold him solidly in place.

Gritting his teeth and letting out a furious grunt as he strained against the earthen prison, Fong broke free suddenly, sending pieces of shattered rock exploding away from him.

"Aang, now!" Suki shouted as she curved her arm around her fan before flicking it forward forward.

Fong raised his arms protectively over himself, letting the scything fan crash into his wrist bands painfully. Unaware of Aang's movement, a look of shock struck his face as he lowered his defense to see the airbender leaping at him, swinging the small bag previously strapped to his back to send a giant sphere of wind bowling into the general. Taking the projectile for force, Fong crashed into the prison wall and landed in a heap at its base.

Turning from the fallen Fong, Aang glanced at Suki to see her stooping over Sokka once again.

"How is he?"

Smirking, Suki commented, "He's going to be fine, just took a bump to the head."

"Katara?" Sokka mumbled hazily, looking up at Suki with half lidded eyes, "When did you become a Kyoshi Warrior?"

Rolling her eyes, Suki glanced over at General Fong and then looked to Aang asking, "What about him, what are we going to do with him?"

A look of contemplation appeared briefly on the Avatar's face before he glanced at the prison grate that looked in on the prison yard before replying, "We'll need Toph to restrain him so he can't earthbend and escape, after that I think I've got a few friends that should be able to take care of him.

* * *

"Ugh, my head," General Fong moaned from where he sat in the prison yard, trying to hold his aching skull but finding his hands restrained.

Opening his eyes dazedly, he found his legs bound and his hands locked in twisted bar of metal. Looking up fro the first time, he noticed three other prisoners staring down at him.

What appeared to be the leader of the three, a pale man with a green serpent tattoo winding down his arm glared down at the general, pound his fist into the palm of his other hand, grinding it unpleasantly as he stated crossly, "You got a full head of hair, no tattoos...you're not going to fit in very well around here."

"Wait, no, this is a mistake!" Fong cried before the other man's fist obstructed his vision.

* * *

As Aang and Toph worked with the town officials to temporarily lock Fong's earthbending rebels away before they could be brought to the Omashu prisons, Anila, Katara, Sokka, Suki and Zuko nursed their wounds and tried to relax in the apartment room provided by Chin.

Playing with Momo, Anila looked up as Zuko let out a restrained hiss.

"It's just cuts and scrapes, maybe a nasty bruise or two, but nothing is broken," Katara commented as her healing hands traced his chest, "You'll be fine in no time."

Zuko seemed to take her word for it as his shoulders relaxed, only to tense up once more when her hands began glowing again.

"Suki, listen," Sokka began from where he sat nearby, holding the warrior's hand, "I know we were just joking before about who was the better warrior, well, okay, I was just joking before, but I wasn't thinking back there, and now I am thinking, and..." Suki's attempt to restrain a giggle prompted a more serious expression on the water tribesman's face as he continued, "Look, you're the better warrior. Two arms, one arm, no arms, it doesn't matter, you showed restraint and I just charged in without thinking and put you at risk because of it."

Sokka," Suki began to explain, "It wasn't a contest."

"I know, but—"

"And I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't encouraged me," she spoke again seriously before leaning forward to kiss him lightly on the lips.

Grinning foolishly, Sokka whispered loudly as leaned to his left where Zuko sat stoically being healed, "Hey, Zuko," he began before crowing under his breath, "Did you see that? Huh? You could learn something from me. You see, the key to a girl's heart—"

"Touching," Zuko interrupted, eyes rolling. Sokka seemed ready to attempt another jab at him before the firebender deadpanned, "But she's still better than you."

Mouth open and ready to jest, the water tribesman's expression morphed as his jaw dropped a notch lower with indignity.

Laughing along with Suki at Sokka's fallen ego, Katara glanced up to announce, "Aang's back!" Abandoning Zuko's healing as she stood up and greeted Aang at the door with a hug, she asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Yep, everything is taken care of for now, Toph personally cuffed each soldier with a bar of metal so that they couldn't escape."

Plopping down beside Zuko, Toph sighed, "I never thought bending metal could be so monotonous."

"What about the colonists?" Zuko asked interestedly.

"Well," Aang began, rubbing the back of his head as he searched for his words, "Everything is sorted out here. Chin was one of the towns that experienced minimal colonization, but the situation is different in some of the older colonies. Fong was right when he said something needed to be done."

"It'll work out," Katara stated, smiling with assurance,"we ended the war, I think we can fix this too."

"Wait, we have to help _more_ people?" Sokka suddenly asked, catching everyone's attention, "And all we get for helping out is a 'thank you, great job, see you later'?"

"Another day, another win, and nothing to show for it," Toph sighed jokingly.

"Except some bruises," Zuko added under his breath ruefully.

"How can you guys say that," Katara spoke up in frustration, "Isn't the feeling that you've helped so many people reward enough?"

After a bombardment of three consecutive 'no's, Aang offered, "Well, Mayor Tong said they were going to give a celebration festival for us since we saved them...again. Does that work"

Anila, staying out of the exchange, watched quietly as the three seemed to consider the question. Sokka leaned to his right, made a whispered exchange with Suki, turned to his left to huddle with Zuko and Toph a moment.

"Yep."

"Yeah."

"That definitely works for us."


	24. Love and Loss part 1

"Whoooo's ready for the festival?" Sokka half asked half announced with a huge grin on his face as he entered the apartment room shared by him and his friends.

On one side of the thinly furnished room lay Toph, absently picking at her toes and flicking a piece of gunk at the wall as Sokka entered. Nearby, Anila sat giggling as Momo crawled around her shoulders while she held a piece of fruit up playfully, just out of the lemur's reach. On the other end of the room Aang and Zuko sat facing each other, a number of tiles marked with elemental symbols lying on the table between them.

"Hey, Sokka," Aang greeted, looking up from the game while Zuko remained concentrated on the tiles, letting out a grunt of awareness at Sokka's arrival.

"Are you guys seriously just going to sit around until the festival starts? You're not even going to get ready?" Sokka asked in disbelief, sitting on the floor by the table and examining Aang and Zuko's game.

"Get ready for what?" Aang questioned curiously.

"Your move," Zuko spoke up, still focused on the game.

"Oh, sorry," Aang replied, laying a tile down absently before turning back to Sokka, "Get ready for what?"

"Huh? Oh!" Sokka exclaimed, looking up from the game and pulling a carefully wrapped parcel from his bag, "Check this out, compliments of Mayor Tong."

Unwrapping the package, Sokka held up an expensive looking robe with a grin.

"Oo, fancy," Aang complimented, "Nobody said the celebration party was going to be formal."

"It's going to be amazing," Sokka beamed, "There's going to be food, music, food, entertainment, food, and—oh oh, they're even going to reenact the battle with Fong and his men! Did I mention the food?"

"That sounds delicious-er, great!" Aang replied with a grin before looking back at the game, glancing at Zuko's impatient glare apologetically as he lay down another tile.

"I can't wait," Sokka said excitedly as he repacked his new robe, "Just thinking about all the food, all that meat..." he began again, holding his hands up and twiddling his fingers gleefully before speaking more seriously, "But do you know what the best part is?"

"Whats that?" Aang asked, turning from the game again.

"This will be the first time Suki and I get to do something together, you know, like a date," he said before sighing happily, "A juicy meat dinner is great and all, but it tastes _that_ much better when you get to eat it with the girl of your dreams."

Zuko suppressed a fit of laughter with an abrupt grunt, causing Sokka to look at the firebender suspiciously. Aang however remained oblivious to his two friends, still dwelling on Sokka's words.

A date...with the girl of his dreams? This was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

"Hey, Sokka," Aang spoke up quickly, catching the water tribesman's attention, "where did you say you got that robe?"

"Ji-Fu's clothing shop, its near the town square," Sokka replied, grinning broadly, "Thinking about getting one yourself?"

"Yeah," Aang replied quickly with excitement, "Now that I think about it I really should be getting ready for the party."

"Aang," Zuko interrupted, "Our game?"

"Oh, right," Aang chirped, spinning on his heel, grabbing a tile and laying it down, "I win."

Zuko stared at the final tile dumbfounded as Sokka watched Aang zip away with a grin.

Seeing Aang leave from across the room, Anila lifted Momo out of her lap, handing him the piece of fruit she had been teasing him with, and stood up to follow Aang, wanting help with her airbending.

"Aang, wait," Anila called as she caught up to him outside the apartment.

"Hey Anila, I'm kind of in a hurry so—"

Shoulders dropping as she exhaled heavily in frustration, Anila sighed, "But you said we'd train when you finished your game with Zuko."

"I, well, that was before..." Aang trailed off as he met her disappointed frown. "Okay, how about this," he began, spinning his arms around, forming a ball of contained wind, "The air scooter."

Anila's frown faded into amazement as she watched Aang set the spinning ball of air on the ground, leaping on top and balancing on the toe end of one foot.

"Wow, how do I—"

"Just do like I do," Aang interrupted, hopping off the ball as it dissipated beneath him and creating a new one in his hands.

Anila's first try resulted in a weak flurry of wind shooting in all directions, but on the second attempt she found herself cradling swirling orb of wind.

"Aang, I did it, I—"

"Great!" Aang exclaimed in genuine excitement, "Work on making it bigger and then try to balance yourself on it. I'll help you out more later.'

Anila stood watching as the Avatar bolted away in a cloud of dust, her ball of air breaking and disappearing as her arms fell to her side. Frowning again, she spun her hands violently to create another sphere of air to try the air scooter once more.

* * *

"Hey, Toph," Sokka began, taking a seat next to the earthbender, "Looking forward to the festival tonight?"

"I guess," Toph replied in slight annoyance.

"You guess? It's going to be great! Suki and I are—"

"Yeah yeah, going together, its a date, blah blah blah, I heard you chatting up Twinkletoes," Toph interrupted in frustration, getting to her feet and walking to the door, "I'm going out.

Stunned and slightly confused by Toph's response, Sokka shouted after her, "Okay, make sure you're back in time for the food!"

"Right," the blind girl muttered under her breath, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

"Aang?" Katara questioned as a figure zipped past her leaving a trail of dust in it's wake.

Immediately the figure zoomed back, stopping abruptly in front of her.

"Hey, Katara!" Aang greeted with a grin.

Returning his smile, Katara laughed, "You're certainly in a hurry, where are you off to?

"Oh, uh, Ji-Fu's clothing shop," Aang replied, trying both to answer her question and figure out how he would go about asking her to festival, "I, er, I need something to wear tonight."

"Oh, Suki and I just finished getting our outfits," she replied, gesturing to carefully wrapped package in her hands.

"Where is Suki?" Aang asked, both out of curiosity and to buy time to think of how to ask her to go with him.

"She had to stay a little longer," Katara replied, averting her eyes to the ground, "She needed her the sleeve of her dress hemmed. You know, because of her arm."

Aang bit his lip, matching her gesture of sympathy for their friend. Standing in the street in a long, awkward silence, Aang finally spoke up, "So...the festival...are you...going? With anyone?"

Katara shot him a quizzical look, raising an eyebrow at the airbender, "What do you mean? I'm going with you guys, but—"

Aang's mind was a blur. 'Going with you guys' quickly translated to 'not going with anyone specific' which proceeded to 'I'm free to go with you'.

"Great!" Aang interrupted both her and his own thought process excitedly, "I'll see you later then, I have shopping to do!"

It was perfect. If she didn't get the clue now, Aang thought as he raced to the clothing shop, she certainly would when he swept her off her feet later that day.

Katara's mouth quirked open to reply, but quickly broke into a humored smile. Shaking her head in amusement, she turned to continue heading back to their apartment.

* * *

"I'm just saying," Sokka started again, for what Zuko felt was the hundredth time, "A guy like you should be taking a girl to this festival."

"And who am I going to take?" Zuko finally broke under the other boy's tirade after minutes of staring at the tile game Aang had won, still trying to figure out where he had gone wrong and trying to ignore Sokka.

"Oh, thats right..." Sokka trailed off victoriously, "I forgot that your girlfriend is still in the Fire Nation. What was her name? Moo?"

"Her name is Mai!" Zuko quickly defended before adding, "And she's not my girlfriend."

"Whatever you say," Sokka dismissed, "Its a shame though. You'd think the Fire Lord could at least get a date to a little Earth Kingdom town festival, especially when a lowly water tribesman like me—"

An idea sprang into Zuko's head and ready to say anything to get Sokka off his back he quickly blurted out, "I'm going with Katara."

Sokka stopped mid sentence, face frozen in an absurd expression before melting into a vehement, "What!?"

Folding his arms behind his head, Zuko leaned back on the couch they sat on, merely nodding with satisfaction at Sokka's reaction.

Face puffing up with disapproval, Sokka blurted out, "You're not taking Katara to the festival!"

"Who's not taking Katara to the festival?" Katara's voice sounded behind them.

Zuko's head shot up in shock and Sokka spun around with surprise to look over the back of the chair he sat in, both boys looking at Katara standing in the apartment entrance.

Sokka quickly spoke up, "Zuko says you're going to festival with him. _With_ him, Katara. Like a date."

Katara's brow furrowed at the announcement and her eyes quickly darted from Sokka to Zuko. She noted the quick apologetic look on his face before he began nodding vigorously, pointing from her to himself, expression almost desperate looking.

"Oh...yeah..." Katara began hesitantly at first, keeping her eyes on Zuko to make sure she understood, "Zuko and I are definitely going together."

Sokka's eyes narrowed suspiciously as he stood up and walked to the door leading to an adjacent room.

"Katara, can we talk a minute?"

She had time to shoot Zuko another questioning glance, of which he could only reply with another apologetic one of his own, before she entered the room of Sokka's choice.

"Sokka, I'm back," Suki called as she appeared in the doorway, "You should see—"

"I'll be with you in a minute, Suki," Sokka replied shortly, sliding the door between rooms violently shut.

Suki glanced around the empty room with the exception of Zuko.

"Is something going on?" she asked worriedly.

* * *

Holding his head in one hand, Sokka began with a frustrated sigh, "You know, I expected better from you Katara."

"Better from me?" Katara questioned, looking at her brother questioningly, a spark of indignation in her tone.

"You know what I'm talking about," Sokka insisted, "You and Zuko going to the festival isn't a good idea at all."

"And why's that?" Katara asked with a sarcastic smirk.

"It's not that I have anything against Zuko," Sokka quickly waved off, "He's a great guy, but I don't think he's right for you. In fact, I don't know any guy that is right for you. And wouldn't you rather go to the festival alone? I mean, I would, but Suki...and...yeah. But wouldn't you much rather go alone?"

"Sokka, you've got to be kidding me."

"This is serious, and I'm only looking out for your best interest. Now I know _something_ has been going on between you and Zuko, and—"

"You know what, Sokka, you're right," Katara interrupted sarcastically, "Zuko and I have been secretly meeting in the forest at night to express our undying love for each other since before the war ended. Happy?"

"Not funny, Katara. Not funny."

* * *

Zuko and Suki sat in the room over, sitting at either ends of the couch boardering the wall between the main room and where Sokka and Katara were arguing. Neither were eaves dropping, but it was hard not to hearthe yelling in the other room.

They looked at each other awkwardly and Suki spoke up, "He's a little over protective."

"Yeah, just a little," Zuko replied sarcastically, "how do you put up with it?"

"It's his only fault, if you can call it that. He's a warrior, it's in his nature to protect others," Suki answered with a smile, then laughed, "It just doesn't work out when he's trying to protect other warriors like his sister."

* * *

"Yes, can I help you?"

"Oh, no, I'm looking for something to wear to the festival tonight," Aang explained to the questioning shopkeeper.

"Isn't everybody," the woman sighed before exclaiming, "Oh! You're the Avatar! Please, come right this way, theres a much better selection."

"Anything will do fine," Aang began as the woman pushed him toward the other side of the store, "I'm just a simple monk, really, nothing...too...fancy..." He trailed off as his eyes took in the numerous extravagant robes of varying color before him.

"Nonsense," the woman spoke up again, "Only the best for the Avatar."

"Well, alright," Aang grinned, picking up the nearest, most fancy looking garment, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to indulge myself a little."

* * *

"You're not the boss of me, and if I want to go with Zuko, I'm going with Zuko," Katara stated firmly, staring her brother down.

Frowning, Sokka turned wordlessly, unwilling to admit he lost the argument with his sister.

As he reentered the other room, Suki spoke up, holding up her festival dress, "Sokka, look at what I bought, isn't it—"

"Ugh, Suki!" Sokka whined with frustration, "This doesn't match my outfit at all!"

"Oh...sorry," she began before Sokka interrupted again.

"It's not your fault, but now I have to go get a new one," Sokka pouted, taking her by the hand, "Come on, you're helping me pick something out."

"See you guys later," Suki waved to Zuko and Katara, both standing in the middle of the room as Sokka lead Suki out the door.

Turning, glaring once more at his sister, Sokka slammed the door behind them.

"Will you explain—" Katara began as Zuko simultaneously blurted out, "I'm sorry."

As Katara looked at Zuko expectantly, the firebender explained, "Sokka was annoying me about not having a date to the festival and I had to say something. You were the first person that came to mind. Sorry."

"Great, so you got me involved to save yourself some discomfort?" Katara growled peevishly.

"I'm sorry," Zuko apologized genuinely, "I didn't think he'd take it so seriously."

"It doesn't matter now," Katara shook her head, "Theres no way I'm going to let Sokka think he's won. We're going to together."

"Really?" Zuko questioned in astonishment, "Because if you don't want to, its okay, I understand. I mean, I only said it to get Sokka off my back..."

A mischievous smile creeping onto her face, Katara asked, "What do you say to giving Sokka a bit of his own medicine?"

"That does sound appealing" Zuko replied with a smirk, "What are you suggesting?"

"Oh, nothing Sokka hasn't already imagined us doing. He's been pretty enthusiastic about the festival events so far, I'm sure teasing his wild imagination will be an event he won't want to miss either."

**Author's Note: **Bit shorter than usual. Thanks fuzzytomato for the help editing this into shape, and thanks readers for sticking with this painfully slow updating story.


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